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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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THE PLEROMA 



A Poem of the Christ 



IN TWO BOOKS OF SEVEN CANTOS EACH, WRITTEN IN SEMI- 
DRAMATIC FORM 



REV. E. P. CHITTENDEN, A.M. 



"On ev avTGo Haroiusi itciv ro IlXypmua rrjS GEorrjToS d&)/ua- 
tikgjS. — Col. ii., 9 



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NEW YORK & LONDON 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

%\z Inickrkckr Jress ^ .£ \[ 

1890 



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COPYRIGHT BY 

EZRA PORTER CHITTENDEN 
1890 



Ube Iftnfcfeerbocfeer press, mew Jgorft 

Electrotyped and Printed by 
G. P. Putnam's Sons 



DEDICATED TO 

THE CHURCH 

WHICH IS THE FULNESS OF HIM THAT 
FILLETH ALL IN ALL 



PREFACE. 

The Pleroma is characteristically modern. It may- 
be safely claimed that in no other period of human 
learning could it have been conceived and executed. 
For the ?nateria of the successive ages and stages of 
creation, the latest available scientific authorities have 
been consulted ; and throughout the drama the princi- 
ple of evolution has been adopted ; with this proviso, 
however, that Jahveh-Christ shall be regarded as the 
Beginning and the End of the world-process. A funda- 
mental error of the past has been to regard creation 
finished at man's appearance upon the earth. In this 
work, two hemispheres, the natural and the spiritual, are 
seen to evolve concurrently, reaching their fulness and 
perfection, not in the first Adam, but in the Second. 
In a word, I have incorporated The Christ into the 
mighty sweep of natural sequences ; and the Incarna- 
tion, as potentially hidden, from the beginning, in the 
Womb of the World. 

The poetical form was chosen because it seemed to 
me that the present stage of knowledge suffers no one 
to fill out, after the scientific method, a plan so compre- 
hensive as is here undertaken. The preparation of this 
Poem of the Christ has been a holy delight, while un- 
wonted physical health brightened the arduous duties 
of a pastor and teacher. Some unusual metres will be 
found, whose design is to express peculiar motions of 



VI PREFA CE. 

natural forces. I would crave indulgence for the form of 
blank verse which gives more prominence to the sentence 
than the traditional line permits of. Should my poem 
find favor among Christian students of science and 
scientific students of Christianity, my utmost hopes will 
be realized. 

Among those whose kind offices have furthered the 
issue of this volume the names of Col. Nicolas and Mrs. 
Louisa Pike, both well-known naturalists of Brooklyn, 
N. Y., are gratefully mentioned. The gorgeous Pleroma 
elegans (the perfect type of the floral kingdom) was 
discovered, happily, in time to be laid in gilt upon the 
cover as a significant symbol of the Christ who is the 
" Flower and Perfection of humanity." 

Christ Church Rectory, 
Salina, Kan. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Protea Vilifera, South Africa .... Faces 24 

Earliest Forms of Animal and Vegetable Life . . 46 »/ 

Actinle or Sea Anemones 48 t/ 

Animal and Vegetable Life in the Upper and Lower 

Silurian Ages 54 V 

Reptiles of the Liassic and Upper and Lower Oolites, 56 r 

Marine Life in the Devonian Age . . . . 58' 

Flora of the Carboniferous Age 70 V 

Life in the Triassic Period 74 / 

Mammals and Birds of the Eocene, Miocene, and Later 

Ages 88^ 

Oak Galls, Worm and Fly 90 1/ 

The Serpent Circling round the Hedge of the Gar- 
den of Eden, Seeking a Place to Enter , . 114 v 
Pleroma Elegans 284 1/^ 



BOOK I. 

CHRIST IN NATURE. 



THE PROCESS OF THE PLEROMA. 



THE ETHEREAL PARADIGM UNSEALED IN NATURE. 






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I. — The Mineral Ethers — the Earth = (" Gaia"). 

2. — The Vegetable Ethers — the Flora = (" Vegetse "). 

3. — The Animal Ethers — the Fauna = (" Animas "). 

4. — The Psychic Ethers — Reason = (" Psycha; "). 

5. — The Pneumatic Ether — Divinity in Man = (" Ne- 
sama"). 



r 1. — The Cyclic Forces = the " Circles." 
2. — The Elective Forces = the " Bands." 
3. — The Negative Forces = the " Limits. 

^4. — The Volant Forces = the " Couriers.' 



BOOK FIRST. 



INDEX OF CHORUSES, SONGS, ODES, AIRS, AND RECITATIVES. 



Choruses : 




The Angels : 


PAGE 


" Immanent Godhead — Nature's PLEROMA " 


• 99 


The Anim^e : 




"We crawl and creep " . 


7 and 62 


" Terrestrial fervors " ., 


. 78 


The Bands : 




"Love electing, hate rejecting" 


6 


" Hail we Circles all revolving " 


. 20 


" Ours is the lacing and lining " 


• 50 


The Cherubim : 




" Ye burn not, Ethers " 


. 10 


" O fair One, Naomah " .... 


. 14 


The Circles : 




" Ever circling round and round " 


• 5 


" Of Nature the key-note is ours" 


. 19 


The Cosmic Ethers : 




" Sing, ye Morning Stars, together" 


• 23 


" Hail, Star of the Morn" 


. 90 


The Couriers : 




" We fly, we fly " 


7 and 76 


" We wing, we wing " . . . 


. 21 


" We speed, we speed " .... 


• 58 


" We flash and fly " 


• 95 


Essential Ethers : 




" Motion is music ; Rhythm is Reason " . 


1 


" Hither and thither strive Ave together " . 


2 


" Come from the peerless glory beneath us " 


• 3 



XIV 



THE PLEROMA. 



Choruses — (Continued?) 

" Space to our father, Time to our mother 

" List, ye sisters, list the music" 

" Creation advances " 
The Heavenly Host : 

" The Cherubim cry, Holy, Holy," 
The Limits : 

"Circles, thither fly ye ? " 

" Cyclic choir, we hear thee " . 

" Circles, ye invite us " 
The Living Creatures : 

" The empyrean lowereth " 
The Psych^e : 

" Silent the shores of space " 

" Ah, Permian pall " 

' ' The rage of the reptile saurians " 

" Hail to the bird primeval " . 

" Tears of the poplar " 

" O fair illusions" . 

" The God of the gall-fly " 

"Creation fulls, the Circle rounds" 
The Seraphim : 

" The Watchers say Yea " 
The Veget^e : 

" Pass we, O sisters" 

' ' Greet we our brothers " 

" Join we the Circles " 
Songs : 

' ' The Archaean Marshes, measureless marshes 

" The Dance of the Dawn, rosy dawn " 

" The Fame of the Flower, the nectarous flower" 

" The Greeting of Gaia (Earth) to lum'nous guest 

" The Lay of the Leaf, the protean leaf" . 

" The Mead of the Moon, the regent of night " 

" The Rhyme of the Root, the down-growing root 

" The Roll of the Beach primordial " . 

' ' The Song of the Seasons, offspring of the Year 

" The Song of the Stem, the up-springing stem " 

" The Song of the Stars, the far-away stars " 



THE PLEROMA. 



XV 



Odes : 

To the Hermit-crab 

To the Ocean 

To the Protozoan 

To the Sea-Anemone 

To the Trilobite 
Airs : 

' ' The Air of the Acrogens — point-growing stems 

" The Air of the ^Eons, the daughters of Time " 

" The Cry of the coal-fields" . 

" The Rush of the Rivers " . 

" The Rune of the Rock " . 

Recitatives : 



The First Creature : ' 
The Second Creature 
The Third Creature : 
The Fourth Creature : 



Hail musical Motions : 
" Hail Archetypes " 
' Assembled Glories " 
" Lo row is heard " 



Lucifer . 

The pleroma in locis multis 



■ 55 

. 40 

• 42 
. 48 

• 54 

. 66 

61 and 87 

. 69 

• 43 

• 43 

. 12 

. 12 

12 

• 14 

• 9i 



VOICES OF BOOK FIRST. 



THE PLEROMA— The Fulness of God contemplated in the 
Process of Creation ; the Fount of forms and motions ; the 
Author of Nature and of Man. 
The Living Creatures — Ezekjel, Chap. I., vs. 5; Revelation, 

Chap. IV., vs. 6. 
Cherubim — the assembly of Cherubs. 
Seraphim — the assembly of Seraphs. 
The Heavenly Host. 
Angels — of every rank. 

The Chorus of Ethers — Forms and Motions. 
The AZons (Ages) — daughters of Time. 

'The Mineral Ethers — " Gaia." 
The Vegetable Ethers — " Vegetce." 
The Archetypal Forms : < The Animal Ethers — " Animce." 
The Psychic Ethers — "Psycho?" 
The Pneumatic Ether — " Nesama." 

The Cyclic forces — " Circles." 
The Attractive forces — "'Bands." 
The Repellent forces — "Limits." 
The Volant Forces — " Couriers." 
Lucifer (Satan) — the Archon of the Earth. 



The Archetypal Motions 



THE PLEROMA. 



CANTO I. 



THE ARGUMENT. 



The pleroma engrosseth the spiritual Ethers — The hymeneal 
of the archetypal Motions and Forms — The Creator 
with the invested Powers proceedeth from the Heavenly 
Places into the Voids. 

THE ETHERS. 

Motion is music ; rhythm is reason ; 
Will we to haste ? or tarry a season ? 
Do we fly under, pause we and wonder ; 
Fly we out farther, where shall we gather ? 
Distances breaking, thoughts new awaking — 
O the mystery of Eternity ! 

THE PLEROMA. 

With quicken'd measure do these tuneful Airs 
Essay their harmonies upon Our ear — 
The earliest born of Ethers — fairest notes 
In the ethereal chorus. And Thee, O Soul 
Of motion ! lo, in Thee attun'd, these Rhythms 
i i 



2 THE PLEROMA. 

Shall take percept of power and will, and, from 
This day, divine Our way, and thither turn 
Their faces. 

THE ETHERS. 

Hither and thither, strive we together — 
Space for the Will, and Time for the Reason — 
While we are pondering, turning and wondering, 
What is the Life in us ? whence is the strife in us ? 
Are we of many ? or spring we from One ? 

THE PLEROMA. 

Joys of Our joy ! and ardors of Our heart ! 
Awak'd in you this day are power and will ; 
And ye are strong and free, feeling the pulse 
Of reason and of motion. And this is Life : 
Whose Whence seek not to know ! Life hath no 

Whence ! 
But simply is — no more — is One not many ! 
While ev'ry mystic Type, Nwnber, or Name, 
The express symbol is of Unity, 
More simply seen, the more diverse reveal'd. 

O Increate Ethers of the Increate God ! 
Ye are the pleroma issuant forth 
To mould of the eternal glory-mist 
A mighty Universe — a concord vast 
Of masses and of motions. 

Lo, Time and Space, 
As new-born lights, glow purely on Our breast : 
Greet them, ye holy Signatures of Love ! 



THE PLEROMA. 

Let Forms sciential greet sciential Airs, 

While ihou.ght-mz'rage fashions a distant world — 

A way of wisdom there, and throne of Light. 

By inmost Love impell'd, the pleroma 
Passeth for work upon the distant Voids : 
The Ethers brighten Our transcendant way, 
While the creative Process lays a line, 
Clearly defm'd, betwixt Eternity 
And Time ; and henceforth shall the Heavens chant 
Of One that Was, and Is, and Is to Come. 

The Motions move in zigzag ways intent 
To range themselves as chords and harmonies : 
The ^Eons write of Then and Now — There — Here — 
Thoughts complemental and herein create 
By this World-Process of the Infinite. 

THE ETHERS. 

Come from the peerless glory beneath us, 
Hail, O pleroma, dimming our lights ! 
Wings still confessing marvel and blessing, 
As we draw near Thee, pressing to hear Thee, 
More of the Future born of Thy coming ; 
More of the Distant now op'd to view. 
Us teach compliance for Thy reliance, 
Telling us more of the hither and thither ; 
Freighted with import strange to our minds. 

THE PLEROMA. 

Behold these ardors with surprise attent, 
To move by spaces, and to think by times ; 
To find the Whence and Whither of Our way, 
And learn of Time and times that now begin. 



4 THE PLEROMA. 

By this We know the Infinite Our wide 
Design advances ; and, hath now evok'd 
Their spheres a day of clearly ration'l thought : 
And open'd them a field of vision, seen 
Of neither Living Creature round the Throne ; 
Nor of the Cherubim and Angels — nay, 
Beheld alone by Us and them this hour ; 
Whereby their powers enlargement make to pass 
With Us the unillumin'd seas of dust, 
Hereto unmov'd by will express'd of God 
In law, or love ; and so make manifest, 
That ration'l thought to Space's treble-line 
Is correlate ; questions of Yea and Nay, 
Its points and angles. 

THE ETHERS. 

Space to our father ; Time to our mother ; 
Nothing shall harm us, distances charm us ; 
We are of One ; and Love is in all. 
Wait we no longer, weaker or stronger, 
Hasting the Voids, at pleroma's call ! 
Bright One to bless us, hold and caress us, 
Answer us, teach us, musing and marvelling — 
All in all ! ponder — changing to wonder 
Whence is our home, and whither our motion ? 

THE PLEROMA. 

Ye pause, bright Airs, and hope is marr'd by fear 
While quest of reason bends the act, now here, 
Now there ; and Time and Space divert the end. 
O fill'd with burning Love to win you all, 
Draw We the curtain of Our glory back — 
Bidding you gaze this living Temple ! If 



THE PLEROMA. 5 

With ravish'd sight ye seek to enter in : 

The awful Shrine explore : giving therewith 

Your wills to Our creative purposes ; 

Unseal We then the splendid chart of worlds — 

Our nuptial gifts to you, — whilst ye do wed 

Our first-born Thoughts, — the Archetypes ; — and yield 

Your fervent souls unto Our mighty work. 

Fair Wills, that live by One, yet freedom have 
To choose, refuse, to aid, and to oppose — 
Again We hail ! the Circles first salute ! 
The Limits next ! the Bands ! the Couriers ! 
Thence Flora, Fauna, and the Psychic Airs ! 

THE CIRCLES. 

Ever circling round and round, breathing music ever ; 
Never tiring, singing on, being silent never ; 
Greet the glory, each in turn, circling near His feet ! 
Meet to worship, wondrous Light ! We our song repeat : 
" Holy ! Holy ! Living Shrine ! Us possessing wholly ! 
Solely Thine to do Thy will ; Us investing fully : 
Thou the Fount, and We the streams flowing ever free ; 
We the thoughts — reflected rays of Thy Majesty. 
Deep We gaze and view Our home — visions out of sleep — 
Fear is gone, and holy faith pensive doth appear ; 
Fill Us now, Thou Parent, life ! all adore Thy Will ! 
Thrill Us thoughts We cannot tell ; and We linger still ; 
Won by love, and woo'd by Thee ; circling ever on — 
From the deeper glories hear allelujahs sung." 

THE LIMITS. 

Circles, thither fly ye ! Try ye 
Bound'ries far or nigh thee ? Leaving us, 



THE PLEROMA. 

Grieving us — " Whither " lieth where ? 
O thou Fair One, greet us ! mete us ! 
Distances defeat us ; lackaday ! 
Far away, — life is led by care. 

Ah, what voice allureth ? assureth ; 
More than all endureth, guiding us, 
Chiding us kindly in our grief. 
Hear we music drifting, lifting, 
Hopes from sorrow sifting ; treasuring, 
Measuring rhythms that bring relief. 

Radiant Form that layeth, stayeth 
Bans of glory ; weigheth ; knowing, 
Showing love is wed to light. 
Soul of light ascending, tending 
Spaceward never ending ; loving all, 
Proving all ; — day divides the night. 

THE BANDS. 

Love electing, Hate rejecting — 
Ever binding, ever loosing, 
What decideth choice in choosing ? 
Strong is will, and strong is wonder ; 
Glory bursts and now we ponder ; 
O pleroma, heart-alluring ! 
Holy names us all assuring ! 
Circles pure and Limits finding ; 
Us to Thee in bliss resigning ; 
Times behold with Time united ; 
Space in Thee with spaces sighted ; 
Lights in Thee with Light all lighted ; 

Triple Powers we, 

Freely bound by Thee. 



THE PLEROMA. 



THE COURIERS. 



We fly, we fly ! 
Swift are we as the thoughts we bear ; 

Descry, descry, 
Wings of light on their errand there : 

Yonder ! yonder ! 
Skirting the bounds of space : 

Wonder ! wonder ! 
O Sovran Power ! our Present and Past ! 
We herald the Future hastening fast ! 

THE VEGET.E. 

Pass we, O sisters, but passing 

We fall : 
Brief is our flight, or ye carry 

Us all : 
Blowing sweet zeyphrs, but blowing 

We spread 
Wings quickly folding and fainting 

With dread. 
Seek ye swift Couriers the Minerals 

Our own ! 
Faint are we brothers, Oh where are 

Ye gone ? 
Carry us, ferry us, over the sea, 
Wafting us hither, thither, so free. 

THE ANIM^E. 

We crawl and creep ; 
We climb and leap ; 
Run we and fly 
Afar and high : 



THE PLEROMA. 

O joy, but where? 
The Minerals fled, 
The Vegetse sped ; 

O fear ! O care ! 

A world of green, 
We taste unseen ; 
We swallow its meat, 
And wallow in sweet — 

A passing dream. 
Awake, we cry : 
" Ah bring us nigh ! 
With Thee we go. 
Above, below, 

The flowing stream." 



THE PSYCHE. 

Silent the shores of Space ; 

Songless, save rhythms of thought ; 
Highest of Ethers, a race 

Godlike, ere we are taught. 

Words for our breath we breathe ; 

Sense on reflection attends ; 
Fancies on memory wreathe ; 

Judgment to Mercy ascends. 

Realms still in thought we possess, 
Crush not the weakest of airs ; 

Up to us growing we bless, 
Breathing our life upon theirs. 



THE PLEROMA. ( 

Hail to the fountain of light ! 

Home of the Essences pure ! 
Now rise the Voids to our sight ; 

Us to invade them allure. 

THE PLEROMA. 

Of angels named Rhythms and Aureole Lights — 
How inly blest your peaceful harmonies ! 
Not so what time We pass'd the argent line : 
Us then ye saw, and seem'd as in sea 
Of sapphire imag'd ; and were sore confus'd ; 
Nor heard ye from the splendors following 
The Voice which saith : 

" O fount of Essences ! 
From Whom arise, and into Whom return 
These consubstantial Airs ; not more from Thee 
Discrete, than thoughts are from the Self that thinks ; 
Nor separate than motions from the Mover. 
Lo now, concentering this dome of mind, 
These willing Motions wait investiture 
In substance tangible to finite sense ; 
But ere Thou bring them to the silent bounds 
Of the Increate Universe to join 
To Masses, Motions, and thus Matter form — 
Thou shalt disclose the primal Seat of Motion, 
And seated there that Life Whose trinal seal 
Of Power, Wisdom, Love, each Ether, pure, 
Shalt carry thither, ceasing not to voice 
The glory and the praise of the Creator." 

Wherefore, ye Motions, nether fly, and take 
The Seal of Power from God the Father ; and 
From God the Word, the Seal of Wisdom ; and, 



10 THE PLEROMA. 

From God the Spirit, Love, that future worlds 
May show eternal Power, and Godhead 
In things create ; and Nature's varying forms 
May bear the impress of the treble-Hand. 

THE ETHERS. 

List, ye sisters ! list the music ! 

Rising from the nearer seats ; 
Nearing, cheering, nothing fearing ; 

" Ethers hail ! " the choir repeats. 

Aye, discerning, hither turning, 
Fashions Godlike to our eyes ! 

Myriad wings, and myriad faces ! 
Can we cover our surprise ? 

THE CHERUBIM. 

Ye burn not, O Ethers, in flame 
Or fires ! 

What hither approacheth in blame 
Expires. 

THE SERAPHIM. 

The Watchers say " Yea," 
And do we say " Nay " ? 

O airy fairy ones, never ! 
We know not why 
Ye hither fly, 

A day or to stay forever ? 

Fair Aureole Lights 
From heaven's pure hights, 



THE PLEROMA. II 

With beaming, gleaming motions ; 
Lo, hither ye trend, 
Our circle to lend 

Creative, original notions. 
The way to the Throne 
Is barred to none 

That loving, endureth its Light ; 
But passing we pray 
Ye turn not away 

And flee the ineffable Sight. 

THE LIVING CREATURES. 

The Empyrean lowereth ; showereth its fill 
Of rhythms and glowing essence 
Upon the Throne ; 
With hearts compelling, swelling, we still 
Express the four-fold Presence — ; 
And God is One. 

These fleeting tapers, vapors from the verge 
Of clearly rational Being, 
God calleth, not we ; 
The Throne we see not, fearing ; yet surge 
These streams of motions seeing — 
God knoweth, not we. 

The Ethers free, surround ; resound the skies 
With festive voice and sign ; 
Pleroma's Vow, — 
The Seven Spirits burning, turning their eyes 
To light the multitudinous line, — 
Perform we now. 



12 THE PLEROMA. 

THE FIRST CREATURE. 

Hail, musical Motions ! bodiless Rhythms ! 

Lov'd of and loving the Throne ; 
This hour of your union, mystical troth — 

Name we ; God knoweth alone. 

THE SECOND CREATURE. 

Hail Archetypes, ethereal moulds of things to be ! 
Awaited long the beauteous choir saluteth ye ! 
With grace benign advance ye here and greet them ; 
And, plighting faith, with holy love, entreat them. 

THE THIRD CREATURE. 

Assembled Glories of the Essential World ! 
Ye sing this hour the sacred bans fulfill'd 
Of Types original — to angel speech — 
The Architectural Powers, Creative Thoughts ; 
And of the virgin Airs (alike in song), 
The Aureole Lights of the outermost Heaven : 
Ideas and motions, complemental, now, 
The throne shall bind forever sealing one. 

Vast moment hath this act — the key to Nature. 
As Voices utt'ring the eternal Will, 
We call on Cherubim and Seraphim, 
To range yourselves in compact companies — 
To each assign'd his tone and anti-phone ; 
The greater first, and, after, each in turn. 

Ye mark a stream of alabastrine light 
That floweth as a river from the Throne 
Of Motion ; view ye all, not we, — and thence 
It leadeth outward to the pathless voids ; — 



THE PLEROMA. 1 3 

View we, not ye, — our eyes discerning spaces, 
And things therein, till resting on a globe 
Of emerald hue, with vision spaceward — 
Confus'd the image and the thing ! O Voice ! 
So soon we sight the farthest Goal sublime 
Of the pleroma's way, faint we for joy. 

Expectant multitudes, again, we voice, 
And do direct, dividing into bands, 
Ye keep the margins of the pearly way ; 
When, near the entrance of the holy place, 
Within whose open curtain ye behold 
The chosen passing, pause and wait the event. 
And heed, lest ye, depriv'd of sight, atone 
The fault ! For, first, emergent from the shrine, 
The triple-NAMES, leading the Way, shall waft 
Bright vapors softly on. These ye may look 
Safely upon ; a moment more, and vail 
Ye all your faces, crying " Holy ! Holy ! " 
While blinding Splendor goeth forth upon 
The Sealed ones. Amazement shall possess 
You till the viewless vapors, gathering 
The vortex of the Way, do partly hide 
The outward-going deity ; then shall 
Ten thousand thousand lips break forth in full 
Processional, with call and answer from 
Responsive choruses ; meantime ye fly 
Consecutive beside the moving glory, 
Far as the subtle airs of Heaven support ; 
Nor cease to sing pleroma ; and, to bless 
The invested Ethers, till in parts sublime, 
The voy'ging world transgress the golden line 
That marketh Heav'n, and fade upon the sight. 



14 THE PLEROMA. 

THE FOURTH CREATURE. 

Lo, now is heard the treble-word ; 

And power is given in earth and heaven 

To Archetypes and Ethers pure ; 
The eagle-wing assist to sing, 
Soaring on high in majesty, 

While so pleroma doth assure. 

The portal spreads, and lustre weds 
Each airy Flame unto its Name, 

As thither pass the favor'd band ; 
Within, alone, the holy one 
Is heard to say, " Ye are this day 

Thrice sealed for pleroma's Hand." 



THE CHERUBIM. 

O fair One Naomah ! 
Let Angels shout 
While passeth out 
Adonai pleroma ! 
The Cherub's wing 
Shall haste to bring 
Thee emblems bright, 
The way to light ; 
And guard the seat 
Where Thou shalt meet 
With altar given, 
And guilty shriv'n, 
Man and his mate 
Before the gate 
Of Paradise. 



THE PLEROMA. 1 5 

THE HEAVENLY HOST. 

The Cherubim cry " Holy ! " 

The Seraphim respond ; 
The Angels all cry " Holy ! " 

The Archangels resound 

Ado?iai pleroma ! 

The Ethers pure Thou bearest, 
And to the Voids thou wingest ; 

Thrice blest each one Thou sharest, 
And thither with Thee bringest. 

What wonders there foresnowing ; 

Alone the Ethers telling ; 
Wait we till Motions knowing 

Have builded Thee a dwelling. 

O Light ! What radiance showereth ! 
And festive air embowereth ; 

Ascending, the skies grown rare ; 
Now sense we spaces fainting, 
A universe there painting, 

Amazed, we forbear. 

Thy voyage the Eternal prosper ! 
And from his Throne of jasper, 

Lend aid and comfort ever ; 
Bright spheres, meantime creating, 
Remember forms awaiting, 

Pensive as now we sever. 



CANTO II. 



THE ARGUMENT. 



The Creator survey eth the Voids — Creation goeth forward 
correlate with the Thought- Activity of the pleroma — 
The Songs of the Initial Energies — the Circles, the 
Bands, the Limits, and the Couriers. 

the pleroma. 

If Time compute the way, then are we long 
Ascending hither from the timeless world : 
Or Space define the place, then are we far 
Attaining from the spaceless seat of being. 
How long ? how far ? tuitions these that give 
To simple intellections local form, 
And bind the world phenomenal, reflex 
Of thought in lines and limits. Else were thought 
The unrelated, undefmable ; 

But Thou shalt make it known to creature minds, 
O God, when poured through many signs and symbols 
(Configuring the elemental dust 
Into a Cosmos, with its various parts) 
Thou art the Absolute in all relations. 

Wherefore, to give attendance apposite 
These conj'gal Airs, conceiv'd of Archetypes ; 

16 



THE PLEROMA. I J 

And pregnant with the schemes of future worlds, 
We borrow tongue and custom from themselves, 
Whose mood grows thoughtful and whose converse deep. 

O myriad-visag'd Nature ! still unborn ; 
We wait thy birth-hour and prophetic voice 
Upraise. Burst forth puissant Motions of 
Our Heart to exponential action. Hither, 
What time We press'd Our way, the dusky maze 
Dividing, ye felt the outward impulse slack'n ; 
Nor, till the voyage ended, and ye knew 
Our sphere at length to be at rest, enswath'd 
In ocean thick and ponderable, did ye 
With dubious thought Our mission contemplate. 
Nor do We name this less to smile and cheer, 
That unaccustom'd distances, and dark, 
So much of courage in you find. To tell 
You where We lie and set at rest these wings, 
Alert with tremulous uncertainty, 
A moment given shall be improved. 

Then know, 
O trusting hearts, that still ye safely rest 
Within the Father's bosom — ambient clouds, 
The stuff from which becoming worlds are built, 
Surrounding, do not Him exclude ; while He, 
As Soul of the including Universe, 
Upholds each particle and fashions it. 
Wherefore the spaces cross'd put us no further 
From the Soul of Motion, with Whom there is 
Nor here nor there. Sometime his central light 
Ye saw, amaz'd (though curtain'd to relieve 
The eyes unus'd to living splendors), ere 
Ye hither rose into the central gloom. 
2 



1 8 THE PLEROMA. 

Still God is here as in the light ; for both 

Are chambers of His holiness. Shorten'd 

A time in vision, see ye nothing outward ; 

The seizure of the spaces only conscious, 

Whose welcome of fair guests — ye take with fear. 

To finite sense inert, know ye each atom 

Is potent in seeming passivity ; 

Else had our path not found an end or pause 

In equilibrium ; whereas each atom, 

Resisting, also buoys the thing resisted ; 

And balances the motion by the mass. 

Be ye herewith confirm'd, O spiritual Airs, 

Perceiving darkness contravening light ; 

And masses also correlating motions : 

Or, summ'd in complemental terms — the spheres 

Of Mind and Matter — action and reaction, 

Within the absolute. 

The former known, 
Ye suffer first reaction, finding thus 
That power to act involves somewhere equal 
Resistance ; pure and simple Will the first ; 
By philosophic mind call'd " Being," of whom 
The Complement is call'd the "Not-Being" — 
Whereby is understood that timeless Source, 
Whence ev'ry world becoming, integrates 
By forces fus'd from the Omnific will. 

Now swells Our Bosom with expectant joys 
Fast ripening the Event : turn ye and look ! 
O ecstasy ! (We speak for finite souls), 
Now fulls the natal morn of powers creative : 
Ye pale meanwhile ye pass the straits and feel 
Reluctant motherhood yield up its fruit. 



THE PLEROMA. 1 9 

Immortal Ethers, travailing with Nature ! 
The Archetypes caress you and embower. 

Now issues from the Shrine a lum'nous drift, 
And bears its way across the infinite seas, 
Its subtle light adown the vaporous Voids 
Insifting ; to you, to Archetypes, to Angels, 
To all the Host Ethereal be this the sign, 
And Name that noteth the Creation's birth ! 

Leap forth and fly, O Motions, newly born ! 
The bounds of hylic vapors you embrace ! 
Bright-wing'd, aerial, pierce ye now and build ; 
Genetic Airs, replete in the pleroma, 
Instinct with differential forces, go ; 
Fulfill Our Will ! 

THE CIRCLES. 

Of Nature the key-note is ours, is ours, 

With spherical motions the tone-world to mould J 

With cycles concentric, pleroma empowers 
The mass of still atoms be roll'd, be roll'd. 

Still higher we bear on our way, our way ; 

The outermost bounds of the mist to control ; 
Our wings we will join, and our work is play ; 

While the slumbering ocean receives its Soul. 

Lo motion in matter gives life, gives life ; 

Intrinsic, extrinsic, both one and the same ; 
Involv'd, or evolv'd, there never is strife — 

Not-Being and Being receiving one Name. 



20 THE PLEROMA. 

Look, over the ocean, a blush ! a blush ! 
Diaphanous glow of the dust create ; 

The Universe-system is now aflush ; 
And Vapors 'candescent the Limits await. 

THE LIMITS. 

Cyclic Choir we hear thee, cheer thee ; 
While our lines draw near thee ; riving thee, 

Depriving thee naught of Nature's joy. 
Variant arcs subtending, trending ; 
Ever thee defending ; spacing, 

Tracing, the boundaries we employ. 

By our numbers welling, telling, 
Integrals compelling ; ordering, 

Bordering mass by multitude. 
Vacuums we make not, stake not 
Out in Space ; take naught ; thrilling all, 

Filling all which our arms include. 

Nebulae surrounding, founding ; 
Mighty cycloids bounding ; curling, 

Whirling, each ordained its place ; 
Come, ye Bands, with choosing, using 
This and that refusing ; joining us — 

Coining us finities to trace. 

THE BANDS. 

Hail we Circles all revolving ! 
Hail we Limits all resolving ! 
Primal atoms integrating ; 
Chemic laws in each instating ; 
Homogeneous dust diffusing 
Powers of choice and of refusing ; 



THE PLEROMA. 21 

Complicate and simple number 
Bind and loose and not encumber : 
Giving forms, abating motions — 
Building Ocean into oceans ; 
Circle into circles ringing, 
Far athwart the spaces swinging ; 
Firming bodies and concreting, 
While affinities are meeting — 

Triple-bodies we, 

Claiming Gravity. 

THE COURIERS. 

We wing, we wing, 

Errants, divining the will of all : 
We fling, we fling 

Banners that answer every call : 
Lighter, lighter 

Grows the communicate mass — 
Brighter, brighter 

Beams each atom we pass ; 
Beating, heating, hurrying away, 
Heralding omens of day. 

We wait, we wait 

Never ; needing no rest — 
Too late, too late 

Never, eluding thy quest. 
Passing, flashing, rushing along — 
" Speed ! Speed ! " ever our song. 

THE PLEROMA. 

Initial Energies ! Tessarene Powers ! 
How gloweth with your lights this cosmic mist ! 
Titanic Ethers bear aloft the Spheres 



22 THE PLEROMA. 

And fling them, as if bubbles, into space. 
Eristic Limits parry force with force, 
And stamp their numerals upon the stars. 
In rhythmic synthesis the Binders, too, 
By schedules geometrical, concrete 
The mass. The rudimentary fluids become 
The vehicle for fleet-winged Couriers, 
That, kindling lurid fervors everywhere, 
Exploit cogenerating worlds. 

Enamor'd 
Of the First Fair, and the First Good, behold 
These happy powers express their mutual love 
In simulative signs and studied motions ; 
The circling orbits flowing forth and back — 
Pure being imaging, whose psychical 
Activities are first and final Cause. 
Again dual and trinal are inscrib'd 
As integers of Seven — the magic word 
Unlocking much of wisdom in the skies : 
Invisible species, potentative number 
In fluxions and in fluids ; connoting how 
The dual in Nature a threeness claims 
To give unto it perfectness and balance. 
Or, fleet of wing these errant Airs, that take 
No hostage of the Here, or There ; whose home, 
Like the Incarnate Good, is everywhere. 

With specializ'd alertness, each deploys 
His adjutants, and bindeth multiplicity 
In golden bands of Love. O Holy Love ! 
The thought outruns the time, anticipates 
The Fulness of the Beautiful and True ; 
What time the ages full, ourself shall wed 



THE PLEROMA. 2$ 

A Virgin Soul, of twain making one Life. 
Ye purely pleasant Powers — laws inorganic — 
Your handiwork, so fit and well perform'd, 
Doth God rejoice while beaming visible. 
Of hesitant inaptitude no trace ; 
Nor arbitrary variance with the scheme 
First mirror'd in the Eternal Mind. Faithful 
In lesser as in great such facts make glad 
The factor ; and advance Creation on 
Unto the stage for organific Airs. 

THE CHORUS. 

Sing, ye morning Stars, together ! 

Hail the organific Powers ! 
Antecedent work performed, 

Sisters hardly wait the hours. 

Roll the paean through the skies ! 

Waiting ones join the refrain : 
Flashing fire-mists, farther on, 

Summon to our work again. 

Point we, sisters, to yon globe ; 

Choicest fabric, stamp'd and set 
'Mid a fleet of light-wing'd sails — 

Strength and beauty rarely met. 

Radiant vehicle of love ! 

Passing, bear pleroma thence ; 
Light of God invest the sphere — 

Glory of Omnipotence. 
Lucifer, O Star of Morn ! 

Noblest archangel by birth ; 
Yield we sway if god elect — 

Make thee Archon of the Earth. 



CANTO III. 



THE ARGUMENT. 



The Creator contemplateth the Star whose promise is Man ; 
The Vegetce greet the Mineral choir, a?id draw nigh 
the form of Gaia {Earth) emergent from the sea — 
The festival of Plants as, taking root, they grow and 
bloom, first in the circu?npolar North, the paradise of 
Circles. 

THE PLEROMA. 

O beautiful to God, particular Star ! 
Thy cradle chaos, and thy promise Man : 
The choir of Airs, potential ardors, haste 
To fashion thee a fit and proper field, 
Whereon the fertile Vegetae, Ethers 
Connate, impinging, shall take root and grow : 
Thy form to deck with verdure beauteous, 
Meanwhile elaborating chemic sweets, 
And subtle essences for care or cure 
Of psychic habitors, a race to be : 
Wherefore in middle space, the Pleiads left — 
Too rare and fluid to offer quay, or beach, 
Or anchor for their roots, We hither bear 
The Flora, germanent and quick, whose hope 
Doth ripen them for art and instant action. 

But lo, ye palpitate upon the sight ! 
Wherefore ? Do glowing spheres entrance your thoughts 

24 




PROTEA VTLIFERA, SOUTH AFRICA. 



THE PLEROMA. 2$ 

To stem the fiery heats, oft as some flame 

Leaps up with loud acclaim to show the Airs 

A valiant love hath found affinity ; 

And, celebrating maritals, doth give 

Encaged vapors freedom ? and still ye fear 

This gentlest star of all ? Have ye not oft 

With Us, the labyrinthine star-maze thrid ? 

Seen ratios septenate with atoms join'd, 

Build first the seventy prime elements? 

Then mould the stars ; determine distances, 

And fill the Universe with vocal Sevens ? 

To contemplation, long, yon flashing 'rray 

Of superterrene charioteers behold, 

How, sweeping round the still or moving poles, 

They never chafe the line nor leap the course. 

Bethink ye then, O gentle Airs, if e'er 

Pleroma, showing obverse symbols ye 

Forecast ambiguous destinies for Airs 

Material : lo, now in hailing you they seem 

Incontinent of joy ; and million suns 

Enumerate in proof of power and skill : 

Doth the Eternal love you less ? or fain 

Allureth to a fruitless task ? Nay, nay, 

We pledge Our Name (by greater none may swear), 

That, shortly, pleasant odors ye shall breathe 

Into mephitic atmospheres, the airs 

Make pure and glad, meanwhile acclimatiz'd 

To many zones and circles. 

THE VEGET.E. 

Greet we our brothers, and greeting 

We long, 
Breaking our silence, to join them 

In song ; 



26 THE PLEROMA. 

Waiteth now Gaia, and waiting 

To come, 
Why do we falter to make thee 

Our home ? 

Cling we yet closer, and clinging 

We fear ; 
Seeing Earth's visage so changeful 

Appear ; 
Bear us, pleroma, and bearing 

Us trace 
More of the fashion and mien of 

Her face. 

Live we, pleroma, and living 

We learn, 
In Thee invested we never 

Shall burn ; 
Flames leaping outward and naming 

Essay 
Us naught to harm, but to brighten 

Our way. 

THE PLEROMA. 

O sweetest Flora, ye most clinging and 
Most fair of all the spiritual Airs ! 
This questioning hesitance yet beameth more 
Affection than distrust ; while ye invite 
A closer view of yonder star so dear 
To God ; and chosen ere the world took form 
Beneath the brooding spirit, and awoke 
From Chaos for the lofty counsels of 
The infinite. Nay, ages watch and wonder, 
At pan-creative motions which evolve 
Before their eyes, perplexed much to know 



THE PLEROMA. 2? 

If thought indeed be act, or action thought. 
So add We not to types perceiv'd in Us, 
Redundancy, if their reciprocals 
Herewith be made the metes and bounds 
To spread Our words within. 

Thou flaming Sun, 
The sire and fender of this virgin star ! 
Thy photosphere of burning vapors shines 
But dimly seen through these humidities, 
So dense and mineral ; still less avails 
To clarify the bitter waves, and bid 
The steaming marges green and brighten. Lo ! 
The Earth ! Under these mists she barely feels 
The chemistry of thy seven-fold beams. 
Hence, hail, O Sun, with all the Mineral Airs, 
The advent of the Flora, purifying sea 
And air, and seeding herbage everywhere. 
Flash thou and flame, and pour actinic fire 
Into the gloomy sea ; beneficent 
Assist the pulsing seeds so soon to taste 
These oozy shores. 

Ye dip, O Plants, bright wings 
In airy sea, seven myriad fathoms deep, 
Surrounding Gaia ; and pois'd so daintily 
Upon the fulcrum of the star, it sways 
And heaveth at the nicest touch of sun, 
Or satellite. Lo, yonder beaming moon, 
Weigh'd by the Earth as one to eighty is, 
And, seven-times ten thousand leagues away, 
Doth play this fickle envelope, as erst 
The Circles coil and curl the nebulous mists 
Of forming worlds. 



28 THE PLEROMA. 

A denser atmosphere 
Incites more frequent plying of your wings : 
But fail ye not to mark the ebb and flow 
Of fickle eddies on our downward way ; 
Meantime the silv'ry satellite rides o'er, 
Coercing and retarding sea and air. 
Nor, how the iridescent rain-drops fall ; 
When, circling on the unctuous wave, behold, 
Them give in miniature Creation's plan : 
For, bulging at the middle part, mark how 
Concentric rings are shaken off, that whirl 
A space, along with their own principals — 
Bright filmy bands ; then, surging to and fro, 
Do loose the niceness of their balancing, 
And break, to gather in minuter drops, 
Choosing the mimic circuit as before 
The misty rings. One larger drop ye see, 
Encircled by nine lesser ; and these in part 
By humbler satellites. But look, a gust 
Untoward, smites and dashes one to fragments ; 
Which, minding gravity and notions of 
Coherence (as if truly asteroids), 
Do follow in one path nor trespass e'er 
Upon their fellows. Such is the parent Sun — 
A larger drop swung from its nebula, 
This pleasant cluster forms, a solar system : 
The third and fairest of the drops, this star 
Whose face ye now behold. 

THE VEGETiE. 

Join we the Circles, and joining 

We hail ; 
Bracing our wings while the mountains 

We scale ; 



THE PLEROMA. 29 

Whirl with the rain-drop, and whirling 

Ye sing, 
" Here is a universe couch'd in 

A ring." 

Join we the Bands, and in joining 

We find 
Masses coherent each after 

Its kind. 
Build ye the firmament, and building 

Ye cry, 
" Limits divide now the earth from 

The sky ! " 

Join we the Couriers, and joining 

We shout, 
" Yours is the rush and the roar and 

The rout." 
Fly ye, and flame ye, and flying 

Ye crash, 
Whirlwind and earthquake and 

Auroral flash. 

Come we, O Gaia, and coming 

We ween 
Shortly thy continents gaily 

To green ; 
Aid of the minerals, aid of 

The light ; 
Waking at day-dawn, and drooping 

At night. 

Wide is the Ocean, and widening 

Below ; 
Northward ye beckon, and there will 

We go ; 



30 THE PLEROMA. 

Anchor us yonder, and anchoring 

Will grow- 
Where fountains are playing, and rivers 

Do flow. 

Flora in Paradise, flowering 

Shall vie 
Marvels of beauty with earth and 

With sky ; 
Graft on Earth's navel, lo, grafted 

Shall spread — 
Ocean pour'd round us, the pole 

Overhead. 

THE PLEROMA. 

O sacred Top ! the Zion of the North ! 
Built thee, crystallic Ethers, rearing up 
On massy pillars, syenite and granite, 
Thy arching summit, towering upward to 
The peaceful Pole of heav'n ; when all around 
The dusky ocean roll'd. Thou first didst hear 
The fiat : " Let the waters to one place 
Be gather'd ; and further let the dry appear ; " 
When, 'merging from the bitter seas, sloughing 
The pasty sludge, thou 'gan to consort with 
The vapors, and invite the willing Winds, 
As, shepherding the sweeter airs, they drink 
And pasture them upon thy breast. 

Thou mark'st 
The Eozoic Age — potential dawn — 
Whose fructifying rays wake dynasties 
In each particular spore and seed. 



THE PLEROMA. 3 I 

Now saith 
The Aleim of pleroma: "Let the earth 
Bring forth the tender grass ; the seeding herb, 
And tree, whose seed is in itself upon 
The earth." 

But heed, ye fiery vapors in 
The nether caverns ! Until We summon your 
Engulfing fires, this circumpolar garden 
Of the Aleim hath peace. To you henceforth 
Belongs the chaos of the Southern seas ; 
Go, mix, and melt, and mould successive rocks, 
Upbuilding continents, and realms for the 
Inhabitants, down-streaming from this Mount. 



The rhyme of the root, the down-growing root : 
The basis and stay of the up-greening shoot. 
Thou hast broken the gates of the embryo ; 
The warmth and the moisture bidding thee go. 
Thy home is the darkness ; thy bane is the light ; 
And colorless rootlets thou hidest from sight. 

Inaxial, axial, thou searchest for food ; 
Rejecting the evil, electing the good ; 
A bounty of sweets and of mineral salts, 
Thou storest in subterranean vaults. 

Thy cellular radicle, bidden to spread, 
Weaves Pileorhiza a cap for its head. 
Bores deeper, dividing thread-like in the grasses ; 
Then coralline, gathering in nodular masses. 



32 THE PLEROMA. 

Next, sheath'd in integument, woody and strong, 
Thou biddest the Dicotyls join thee in song ; 
While lenticle air-roots that drink in the sun, 
And parasite feeders are suffer'd to come. 



The song of the stem — the up-springing stem : 
The Plerome now fulls in thy coronal gem ; 
With its apical seat in the crown of the root ; 
And its miniature plan of the stalk and its fruit. 

Thy plumule shoots upward to air and to sun, 
Divided, dicotyl, or roll'd into one ; 
With Circles assisting in shaping thy bole ; 
The cellular tissue, or vascular roll. 

In-growing, endogenous ; or, growing without ; 
With pith or with liber, and xylem more stout ; 
Thy axis erect, or lateral bends, 
As simple, or branching thy volume extends. 

The stipe of the fern, and the trunk of the pine ; 
The culm of the sedges, and stock of the vine ; 
Their nodular axils shoot left and right, 
In spiral obliqueness increasing their hight. 

Pyramidal, spreading, or weeping to earth ; 
Each resinous bud foreshowing at birth, 
Cylindrical tissue, and silvery grain ; 
Reticulate, woven, or link'd in a chain. 

O potentative plumule ! O green-growing gem ! 
Thou weav'st for thy brow a bright diadem ; 
Thy branches and branchlets are charg'd with the flow 
Of juices ascending from fountains below. 



THE PLEROMA. 33 

The lay of the leaf — the protean leaf ; 
For beauty and use most easily chief ; 

In the glebe and the glen ; 

In forest and fen ; 
Sought ever and never denying reprief. 

O imbricate bud ! O fanciful cone ! 

God heareth and cheereth thy multiple tone. 

Conduplicate fold, 

Reclined or roll'd ; 
Thou valvate, equitant, circinate cone ! 

If radicle, posit thyself on the root ; 

If cauline, direct from the stem shalt thou shoot ; 

Or tufted and whorl'd ; 

Or rosulate curl'd, 
Alternate and opposite never confute. 

Ve circles, how runneth the thread of the bole ? 
From leaf unto leaf-bud thy spiral unroll ; 

From grasses to pine, 

Thy arches entwine 
By fractions of circles describing the whole. 

Art sessile ? Do petiole, stipule, and bract 

Attend thee ? and sheathe thee ? and keep thee intact ? 

Or, pitcher and spine 

And tendril of vine 
Amend for the nutritive sap thou hast lack'd ? 

Thy veins and thy veinlets, and venulets fine, 
A delicate tissue and framework outline ; 

Reticulate chain'd ; 

Or parallel vein'd — 
Both simple and multiple fill our design. 
3 



34 THE PLEROMA. 

Thou lung of the Plant ! Thou life of the Tree ! 

Perfoliate, connate, thy sweet chemistry- 
Finds nectar aerating, 
Meantime compensating 

With odorous health wafted far o'er the lea. 



The fame of the flower — the nectarous flower : 
The whorls of thy blossoms build cyclical towers, 

Where the Phyllaries lean 

On a torus of green ; 
And the calyx, verticillate, softly embowers. 

In the dawn of thy life are thy florets consign'd 
To the sestivate bud with its beauties entwin'd ; 

A centripetal heart ; 

A centrifugal part ; 
Pedicillate, cluster'd, or rachis confin'd. 

Dost thou number by fives in thy perianth keep ? 
Or do multiple lives from its citadel peep ? 

The Type is complete ; 

All diversities meet ; 
And the Thoughts of the Thinker lie less deep. 

O palace of loves ! O garden of brides ! 
Pollenius finds thee and wooing abides ; 

Thy carpellate fold 

Is sprinkled with gold, 
And love, being fertile, in Ovary hides. 

Ten myriad variants answer our call ; 
And the study of one is the study of all ; 



THE PLEROMA. 35 

From the spore and its root 
To the flower and its fruit ; 
The Archetype holds, while diversities fall. 

THE PLEROMA. 

This festival of flowers, O Mineral Airs ! 
Doth laud your love and bounty amply spread ; 
Fore-running time, they sing responsive lays, 
Fore-telling shapes and parts idyllic ; — which, 
If enthymemic, still this feast of yours, 
So free and bountiful, shall fill them up ; 
And raise to fruitful symbols of the Mind 
Of God. 

How close in form and function to 
These rudimental Types of flowers and grasses, 
That blossom in primordial seas, and float 
A flimsy raft of tangle and of kelp, 
Are those that root and multiply, alike, 
By scission, or by seed — the Protozoa — least 
Of animate and sentient forms — confus'd 
The patterns of both plant and animal. 

Salute the Animae, O Algae green ! 
Salute, O Cryptogamia ! Life calls 
For life ; conterminous, your bounds, o'er all ; 
Coincident, your freedom on this isle. 
Together, claim and clarify the seas ! 
Together, pierce and populate the deeps ! 
Together, lave and labor on the shores ! 
And creeping upwards, slowly prove the air 
And surface soil an amiable and safe 
Environment. 



CANTO IV. 



THE ARGUMENT. 



The pleroma contemplateth the Sun and Moon and Stars, 
now for the first time visible to the Earth j vieweth 
the upheaving continents and rejoiceth in the Protozoa. 

THE PLEROMA. 

" And it was so ! " Sung first by heavenly choirs, 
When brooding o'er the faces of the deep, 
Engirt by gloom profound and palpable, 
The Spirit of eloah cried, " Let there 
Be Light ! " Again is sung when eloah saith, 
" A firmament divide the waters from 
The waters." Again, when gathering the seas 
Into one place, and setting bounds thereto, 
Eloah saith : " Let the dry land appear." 
And yet once more the quiring angels sing, 
Divining the deep purpose while he cries : — 
" Let there be lights dividing day from night ; 
Lights set in bluey firmament of heaven ; 
For days and years and tokens of His Will ; 
And heralds of the seasons " : and it was so. 
Pursuant thence the Fourth great day of Time, 
The faintly chemic flush, diffusing Gaia — 

36 



THE PLEROMA. 37 

Translucent to the ardors in her breast, 
Surrenders to the regnant beams of Sun, 
And Moon, and blinking Stars, blazing their way- 
Dispersing smoky vapors ; and casting lights, 
With notable shadows over all ; while heats, 
Kinetic, buy, by silence, gorgeous prints 
On ore and crystal ; condensing humid airs 
On grass and herbage — precious dews of rain. 

So shine thou king of day ! and thou bright queen 
Of night ! eloah hath decreed, Amen ! 
Ungirdled to thy blandishments, O Sun, 
Doth Gaia bare her breast ; woo ! woo ! and blend 
Your lights ! consorting Day with Dawn ; and Night 
With Even : resilient to your favors, she 
Emerges from her bath and greets thy form 
With expectation great, and joy. 



The greeting of gaia to luminous guest : 
With turbulent heart and quivering note ; — 

Passing o'er 

Evermore. 
Stay ! Stay ! while nearing our islet ye float : 

Pass not by, 

Or I die ! 
Be still, O my heart ! List the urgent behest 

Of the king 

On the wing ; 
Regarding our smile, approving our song ; 

If he stay- 
But a day, 
If he show but a blush as he looks at my breast, 
I shall dream, I shall dream in the night, of the dawn. 



38 THE PLEROMA. 

O heat of thine heart ! O blush of thy brow ! 
Dost thou burn ? wilt thou turn for an hour ? 

Passing o'er 

Evermore ! 
On my breast thou shalt rest, and embower * 

Win my heart 

Ere we part ; 
All my virginal riches with lustre endow ; 

Pass not by 

Or I die. 

Dost flame ? ah the shame ! and still ridest on ? 
" The day hath its end, and parteth us even ; 

But the night with its queen, 

Shall shortly be seen, 
Whose lustre excelleth the planets seven." 
Thus beaming on Gaia, entreateth the Sun, 

Passing o'er 

Evermore. 



The mead of the moon — the regent of night : 
I wake from my swoon, and drink of thy light ; 

I revive and shall live. 
Thou art fair, O thou queen ! and dost rival my love ! 
Dost thou drink of his sheen, and his blandishments 
prove : 

Ah my heart, canst forgive ? 



" A vestal," O joy ! and the king is unwed : 
So love doth not cloy, and I deck now my bed ; 

Thou wilt come with the dawn. 
Thou art fair,0 thou queen ; and dost honor his flame ? 
Thou art haughty I ween ; and dost Hymen disdain ! 

Haste on, thou life-giving Sun. 






THE PLEROMA. 39 

Lo, whisperings breathe in the air and the wave ; 
While cloudlets me wreathe and I dip me and lave 

In the surf of the shore ; 
O thou messenger Morn ! dost thou beckon me blest ? 
Or dost beckon forlorn ? If his light warm my breast, 

I shall murmur no more. 



The song of the stars — the far-away stars : 
Twinkling, tinkling — 
Concords beautiful ; 
Motions dutiful ; 
Sparkling, darkling, 
A myriad maze of musical motes. 

Still the words I divine both soothe and relieve ; 

Listing, trysting ; 

Telling so faintly, 

Never so quaintly, 

Drifting, 

Sifting, 
By signs clearly known, " He comes, do not grieve. 

Ye fade from the sky at the bugle of Dawn ; 

Flying, 

Hieing. 
Whither, O stars, with light winged cars ? 

Swimming, 

Dimming, 
A flush, and a hush ; — ah, stars, are ye gone ? 



The Dance of the Dawn — rosy Dawn 
Announcing sweet Gaia the Sun : 



40 THE PLEROMA. 

Lo he rides o'er the deep, 

And awaketh from sleep 
Primordial plant and animate form ; 
By the fiat of God the Ocean's vast swarm. 

Hie, Hie, to yon mount, holy mount ! 
From his summit aloft may'st thou count 

Each separate ray 

A herald of day ; 
His august form rising full from the stream, 
Assuring, O maiden, thy hope is no dream ! 

He comes ! He comes ! and I live ! 
Gaia lives. He shall bless me and give 

For my fears beating strong 

A recompense long ; 
Refreshing the air and the meadow and wave ; 
Grant all I can think and all I can crave ; 

Passing o'er 

Evermore. 



The ode of the ocean — the primeval ocean : 

What Ethers impel thy turbulent motion ? 

What hunger is thine gnawing gneissic foundations ! 

What passions devouring the roots of the mountains ! 

How tawny thy surge with its fill of debris ! 

Assorting its load for the floor of the sea. 

How complicate silicas wash'd from the field, 

Reacting, quartz, limestone, and lithia yield. 

Decipher, O Sea, the story of ages ! 

Geognosy teach in the schools of the sages ! 

Bid Circles explain their cyclical wonders, 

From dew-drop and pearl to sky with its thunders ! 



THE PLEROMA. 4 1 

Bid Couriers run, electro-magnetic, 

The round of their cycles from active to static ! 

Bid Binders recite of the crystal and ore ; 

And the glistering gems that sprinkle thy floor ! 

Roll, roll, O Sea ! while the Circles embrace thee ! 

Speed, speed, O Waves ! while the Couriers chase thee ! 

Stay, stay, O Waters, where Limits command, 

And Binders Atlantean rescue the Land ! 

THE PLEROMA. 

Evolve, O Book of Days, thy sept'nate roll ! 
The Bands connect, the Limits line thy pages ; 
The Couriers illume, the Circles read. 

Prophetic moulds of Plant and Animal, 
How apposite your faintly listless lays 
The dying glow of the Archaean age ! 
While passing forms, proleptic, taste sweet hope, 
Presagement of an ampler life. O life ! 
Thou hast nor dawn nor eve divisible ! 
Think we with finite mind as we connote 
The rise, the culmination and decay 
Of these material envelopes, worn for 
So brief an hour ; and slough'd as filth, or dropt 
To fill the argillaceous clays, and sands, 
With shells of dynasties long perished ; 
And glories eloquent in death. Wherefore 
If termed " Protozoa " or, again 
" Amceba," " Coral," " Foraminifer " ; 
Degrade we not the essences and types 
Original in Thee ; nor falsify 
The patterns seen before in heavenly places. 
Immers'd in this bright maze ye fabricate 



42 THE PLEROMA. 

Peculiar shrines, and breathe your matin prayers 
What time the Ethers, wed with Archetypes, 
By Our, pleroma's vow, conceiv'd the World, 
And sang songs hymeneal round the Throne. 



Hither, Airs, and list the tone 
Of the watchful Protozoan ; 

Millions near it 

Chime and cheer it, 
Choosing not to build alone. 

Arms have not, yet seize and bind ; 
Mouth have not, yet mix and grind ; 
Eyes have not, yet quickly find ; 

Headless, footless ; 

Still not bootless ; 
Parts have not yet all combined. 

Shapeless, quivering jelly-sack, 
With an armor for thy back ; 
Filaments drawn taut and slack, 

This thing choosing, 

That refusing, 
Leaving refuse in thy track. 

Who but God hath taught these ways ? 
Lit thy phosphorescent maze ? 
Softly murmuring His praise ; 

Each and all, 

Great and small — 
Manifold and few of days. 



THE PLEROMA. 43 

The Rune of the Rock — the Archaean rock ; 

Thy mysteries break, and thy secrets unlock ! 

Say thou, what spirits of might first convey'd thee, 

And deep in the chambers of ocean here laid thee ? 

By whom thou wast powder'd and strown and assorted ? 

By whom thou wast tilted and tost and contorted ? 

By whom thou wast melted and mix'd and ejected ? 

By whom metamorphized and clearly perfected ? 

What joints and what fissures and cleavage of layers ; 

What minerals base, and what minerals rare ! 

If granite, or schist or dense syenite ; 

Or limestone or marble, and fine diorite, 

Impregnate with iron and kindred graphite : 

What spirits puissant of fire or of air ; 

Or vapor commingled thy masonry share ? 

But lo, the lurid flash ! and thunderous crash ! 
Whilst wild, seething waters tumultuous dash 
On the uprearing roof of a new Continent : 
To Southward, to Southward, with angular bent. 
O hail to the birth of the Archaean Age ! 
'Mid soughing of seas and the vomit of rage ; 
In vain they shall grind and erode thee again ; 
In vain they shall strive to possess thee again. 



The rush of the rivers — the primitive rivers ; 
That spring from the mountains with shudders and 
shivers ; 
That dart and that dash, 
With shiver and flash, 

And hasten to bury themselves in the ocean. 
No rippling rills to rivulets grew ; 



44 THE PLEROMA. 

No peaceful rain and kindred dew- 
Came, gemming the grass — 
But instant they mass ; 

Tremendous the rush and the roar of their motion, 

A deluge of vapors condensed in the skies, 
The faster ye flow, the faster supplies ; 

No marges to stay you ; 

Nor moors to allay your 

Impetuous roll to the Archaean sea. 

Yet brightening skies shall lighten your toil ; 

And channels, worn smooth, appease your turmoil : 

While morass and valley 

Your friendship shall rally ; 

Enamor, beguile you more restful to be. 

Roll on mighty rivers, and freshen the land ! 
The deep yawning ocean shall bury your sand ; 

The grit and the shingle 

With breccias shall mingle ; 

And filter your cargoes with singular skill. 

Ye brawn, bitter streams make haste ! 
Deposit your wash and your waste ! 

Let meadow and lake 

Sweet waters partake, 

Give dower to fountain and murmuring rill. 

The congener winds, conceiv'd by the glare 
Of the gendering sun, in the womb of the air, 

That quicken and fly 

Through the lowering sky, 

And rival the streams on their rush to the deep, 



THE PLEROMA. 45 

Gain might in the mountain and speed on the shore ; 
Find rest in the azure the higher they soar ; 

O primeval wind and stream ! 

Lo, sea and land now teem, 

With millions of creatures that swim and that creep. 



CANTO V. 



THE ARGUMENT. 



The Creator revieweth the domain of the Circles, of the 
Bands and of the Limits, in the Fauna of the Silurian 



and Devonian ages. 



THE CIRCLES. 

Creation advances ; 
Pleroma enhances 

Both scope aad design ; 
New types us consigning, 
To beauty refining 

With recurrent line. 
Three orders inviting, 
Our motions delighting, 

While moulding their parts. 
One order yet higher 
Foreseeing aspire, 

And kindle our hearts. 
The ocean prolific, 
Thy fiat omnific 

Stays not to fulfill. 
Pelagian age ! 
A vertebrate stage 

More wonderful still ! 
46 



THE PLEROMA. 47 

THE PLEROMA. 

Ye beauteous Circles, hymn pleroma joy, 
While graceful curves to plant and animal 
Imparting. To you all organific forms 
Resort to mould, embellishing their parts 
With comely symmetry. The Infusoria — 
O dainty work ! laud be to the Creator ! 
Ye teach them circuits infin'tesimal ; 
Shape for them cups and vases opaline ; 
And form their ova and their embryos. 
With round and ovoid disk and cylinder, 
Your practis'd art attests each limped sac. 
Like dust of dew, the Amcebina too, 
Divide and multiply indefinite ; 
To whom a tiny drop an ocean seems. 
Instruct by you, Reticulata build 
Them chambers convex spiral'd axils round ; 
While float and swim, contractile and dilate, 
The Hydridae, blood-red, and carmine dyed — 
A myriad polyp-vine budding its kind : 
Or, scarlet-flowering Tubularia, 
Pendent with drooping ovaries ; or plum'd 
Polypides that choose the Southern slopes — 
So graceful curv'd in arborescence all. 
Or, bell-Campanularia that float 
Their necto-calyces and stinging arms — 
Infinity of filaments ; or thence, 
More graceful Agalma, brilliants dispos'd 
In bands vermilion, whence well pleased hath 
Eloah giv'n defensive weapons. Ye mould 
Physalia, electric bubbles, fairy fleet, 
That fans the breeze, with silken filaments ; 
And circular Roteria, gyrating as 



48 THE PLEROMA. 

They move ; these name We also to your praise. 

Nor pass We the Medusae, azure bells — 

With lily-crowns and vaulted canopies. 

Next, in the ocean world, the Madrepores, 

Forming star-stones in beauty vying Flora : 

Calcareous cups, cylindric, crown'd by green 

Or yellow tentacles. Next, the delight 

Of geometric Airs, starr'd Astreidas, 

With slender pinnate rays, and sinuous cells — 

A glob'd commune are they, the Circles' pride. 

While singing corals mould the atollons, 

Uprearing from the deep their rounded isles, 

As fringe or barrier reefs, and girdling chains. 

Whence Zoophytes again attest how life 

In free development is cyclic, orbital, 

Moves spirally, or turns upon itself : 

These leave their curious skeleton of tubes — 

A myriad organ, musical in growth, 

And vocal in repose of Circles' power, 



An Air to the Group Actinidae, 

As sung in her garden beneath the sea ; 

On the marble throne, 

Herself had grown — 

A slender waist 

By Circles laced ; 

A rosy crown 

With plumes of down — 

By the coral queen Anemone. 

They call me Queen, O loves of the Sea ! 
And sue me to tell them our mystery ; 

4 



THE PLEROMA. 49 

How the Ocean's swarm, 
And the Fauna's form, 
A floret pure 
Should thus allure, 

To become the Sea-Anemone. 

But this secret, loves, is our mystic wand ; 
To hold it forsook we content the land ; 

The Zoa wed 

And made our bed 

With worm and weed ; 

Still this our meed, 

That our mystery 

Is the wand of the Sea-Anemone. 

We praise the Creator, fulfilling his will ; 
The secret entrusted inviolate still ; 

For beauty retired, 

Fresh glory acquired ; 

The promise believing, 

Through giving receiving ; 

While freely to Thee 

Falls the wand of the Sea-Anemone. 



THE PLEROMA. 

O fair Geometers, with further glance 
We note, like planets moving in the waves, 
Asterias four-armed, with centres circular ; 
So timid of approach that, menac'd, choose 
To suicide than live to suffer. Near, 
With stem cylindric, and with calyx whorl'd, 
The fix'd Pentacrinus, five-petal'd rise ; 



50 THE PLEROMA. 

Whose rock-sown germs take root and grow, at first 
Unlike their kind ; and later, with their ties 
Dissolv'd, foray on plants and animals. 
These all, and more, O sapient architects, 
Of shells, emboss'd, or softly delicate, 
Or pierc'd by countless spines, or crown'd with gems, 
Affirm the Circles' power and magic touch 
Upbuilding Man's domain. 

THE BANDS. 

Ours is the lacing and lining, 
And difficult work of combining ; 
The exquisite tracing and grain, 
Of the ribbon and parallel chain : 
Ours the enamel and facing, 
And singular coursing and chasing ; 
Brilliant the nacre we print, 
Rainbow and azure in tint, 
Seeking the sea-downs and dells, 
To fashion our beautiful shells. 
Lowly the forms us entrusted, 
Rude to the eye and encrusted ; 
Hidden our work nor perfected 
Till Mollusk his nest have rejected. 
O thou Creator, inviting, 
Spread we our patterns inditing 
Praises, us thrilling to tell, 
Of glory that shines in the shell. 

THE PLEROMA. 

And these bright Bands, the Circles' adjutants, 
Are well select for work beyond the realm 
Of minerals ; wherein they prov'd their might 



THE PLEROMA. 5 1 

Puissant, 'tun'd to rhythm. But now again 
Their graceful work display'd on lowly life, 
Else crude but for their touch, shall raise to seats 
Of highest favor. 

Hail, Artists of the shell ! 
Pleroma joins your song. Yours is to course, 
And trace these tests which joyous Circles leave 
For you in outline. Lo, the irradiate face 
Of the Almighty ! unwonted light therein ; 
For, pleasuring these darling forms He sees 
A second heaven on earth : while bands, strong bands, 
Constrain Him to this little star endearing. 
O lowly Band ! blest Band of prophecy ! 
Bare We to thee Our inmost heart, and are 
At once aflush to greet Thee, Who dost bind 
And link in one, both Heaven and the Earth : 
In Thee all Bands, all Lights, all Circles, and, 
All Limits meet : inmost in Thee shall dwell 
Pleroma of the godhead bodily. 

By odorous Algas nourish'd, Flustra next 
Of Polyzoa intermediate — 
Array'd in par'lel-banded-tentacles, 
The linear line receive : thence Tunicata, 
Of varied metamorphosis, the home 
Of parasitic Flora. Luminous trains 
The dazzling-lipp'd Pyrosma grace, while Salpa, 
Living chaplets, par'lel-chain'd, in forc'd 
Community, both physical and mental : 
Each solitaire begetting chains ; each chain 
Reciprocal, begetting solitaires. 
Thus Bands congreet the Circles, a congress 
Of rotary and linear motions. 



52 THE PLEROMA. 

Let now 
The Binder's seminary convene ! All mail'd 
And buckler'd, stoutly stalk the horned Mollusks. 
The vanguard bivalv'd, riveted, and hinged, 
With double shells, secreting annual layers 
Of iridescent armor. Salute We each ! 
Thou art the mining Teredo ! with tool 
Of sharpest steel ; and thou the gaping Phocas ! 
A living point burrowing the gneissic rocks. 
Hail, fiery Pholad ! burning wood or iron ; 
Hail, slender Solens ! truncate, tinted blue ; 
Is this Donax with his revolving auger? 
Is this not glory-crest Telluria? 
And Cytherea also sweet in Bands ? 
Leading the brilliant nacred Pintadine — 
The mother pearl, whose ribbons green and white 
Meet in the top ? Thy pearls as were they dew 
Solidified, increasing with the years ? 
While Ostrea spawn the shoals with living dust, 
That drifts along the marge. Next univalves, 
Pyramidal and spired, by reedy shores — 
The slowly sauntering Snail, the Slug, and Cowrie, 
Transversely striped ; the combed Limpet, too ; 
The cuirass'd Chitons ; foaming Iantheria, 
And Turbo deeply furrow'd, with wavy mouth, 
Trellis'd, and silver traced, and gold ; and those 
Basaltic and more rare, the purple-dyed 
Purpurae ; and the sculptur'd Harpae, dight 
With longitud'nal bands and flutings ; Clio 
'Mong Pteropods, far-crimsoning the wave, 
Hieing the ocean's midst with winged feet ; 
While last to swell the triumph of the Bands, 
Cephalopods, most complicate and dread, 



THE PLEROMA. 53 

Voracious, hiding in the clefts for prey — 
Tri-hearted and encas'd in fleshly walls : 
Warfaring and insatiate, thy warty 
Poulp and labyrinthine tentacles, 
Lie many a yard upon the inky waves — 
Most wonderful, most horrible compound ! 
" Octopus," " Kraken," or " Sepia " call'd. 
And ye straight-chamber'd monarchs of the age 
Molluscan, the Orthocera, draw on 
With conscious majesty your horn-ring'd towers ! 
While Ammonite and Nautilus, honors 
Enhanc'd for Bands in further time essay : 
As trimming sails with cautious skill they lean 
Upon the wind. 

THE LIMITS. 

Circles, ye invite us, hight us 

Limits to fresh duty, beauty 

Us committing, dight in curve and ring. 

Binders also luring ; assuring, 

Practis'd art consigning, refining 

Shells ingrain, and finely chas'd to bring. 

Us to work evolving, resolving 
Whole and part ; connecting, reflecting 
In each rounded part, Imago s face. 
We assess each member, number 
Every thread and spine ; and consign 
Duly to each joint its form and place. 

Six and fairy-footed ; fluted 
Leg and wing ; ever sever 
Triple-clefted Insectivora ; 



54 THE PLEROMA. 

Thence Crustaceae name we, claim we 
Our peculiar order ; border 
Realm unto the Vertebrata. 



To the Trilobite. 

Tri-lobed Trilobite ! 

Tell who hath made thee ! 

Sing of the Circles 

And Bands that array'd thee, 

Curving and winding, 

Lacing and binding ; 
Limits confiding thee, 
Doubly dividing thee, 

Lengthwise, 

Crosswise, 
Tri-lobed Trilobite. 

Leaf-like Trilobite ! 
Say who hath fluted, 
Body and buckler, 
And jointings computed i 

Ordered thy stages, 

Numbered thy pages ; 
First of Articulate, 
Myriads to estimate ! 

Curling, 

Whirling, 
Leaf-like Trilobite ! 

Many-eyed Trilobite ! 
Multiple-jointed ; 



THE PLEROMA. 55 

Sing of the Limits 
Elect and appointed ! 

Sizing and spacing, 

Measuring and tracing 
A complicate being ; 
Imago foreseeing ; 

Evolving, 

Resolving 
The many-eyed Trilobite. 



To the Hermit Crab. 

Hie thee ! Hie thee 

Sybarite ! 
Ever timidly 

Choose some shell, 

Empty shell ; 
Suit caprice 
In the lease, 

Thinly clad Cenobite ! 

Lo, Corystes, helmet-arm'd — 

Fierce and grim, 

Huge of limb ; 

Stoutly claw'd, 

Barb'd and saw'd, 
Thee defenceless hath alarm'd ; 

Safely dwell 

In some shell ! 
Sent to cheer and live with thee 
Hooded Sea-Anemone. 



$6 THE PLEROMA, 

Crab and lobster prowling near, 

Young of prawn, 

Blue and brawn — 
Cyclops dread and Daphnia ; 

Segments given 

Threefold seven, 
Hear ye what the Limits say ! 

" Oddly clad 

Hermit-Crab ! 

None more bright 

In our sight ! 

Have no fear ; 

Thee we cheer ; 

In thy sorrow 

Teach to borrow — 

Firmly cas'd 

Lin'd and chas'd — 

Spiral'd dome, 

For thy home ! 
Where with thee cheerily 
Dwells the sweet Anemone." 



The Roll of the Beach Primordial, 

Wash'd by Silurian seas : 

A varied fossil life 

Hath ended here its strife. 
Devonian waves, 
Ten thousand graves 
Of sponge and rhizopod, 
Of trilobite, 
And graptolite, 
Of gasteropod, 



THE PLEROMA. 57 

And pteropod, 
Worm and cephalopod, 
Ebbing and flowing, delve out in the shore ; 
The South-stretching shore, 
That wanes nevermore, 
While Limits have sway, 
And surges obey ; 
While continents lift, 
And sea-curtains rift ; 
While skies grow more clear, 
Over mountain and mere ; 

Ye are dead, but the Types shall remain ; 

Life and death are the links of one chain. 
O sough of Silurian seas ! 
That dieth upon the breeze ; 
God readeth thy will, 
And filleth thee still ; 
Renewing thy age 
With a Vertebrate Stage. 



CANTO VI. 



THE ARGUMENT. 



The Couriers, presiding over the Devonian Age, introduce 
their fleet creations — The Animoz with prophetic glance 
see the composite forms resolving — The s£ons, daugh- 
ters of Time, review the secular changes — The pleroma 
joys in the works of the fifth Day. 

THE COURIERS. 

We speed, we speed ; 
Swift and strong like the forms we rule ; 

We spring to the deed ; 

Our work is our meed ; 
And drink the wine of life to the full. 

Give fin and wing 
To fish of the sea and bird of the air ; 

To swim and swing ; 

To soar and sing, 
Voicing our measures unmix'd with care. 

Devonian age ! 
Realm of the fish, the vertebrate fish ; 

A saurian stage ; 

Synoptical page ! 
Haste we resolving thy Types as ye wish. 
58 



THE PLEROMA. 59 

We wield, we wield, 
Magical wand o'er the fleet and the strong — 

The Acrogen field, 

Reptilian shield — 
Marking the vistas us given to throng. 

We stay, we stay 
Never ; nor rest we the Promise to greet ; 

The Type now essay, 

Divining the day, 
Of man ; yea Man, in pleroma, complete. 

THE PLEROMA. 

And evening and the morning were the Fifth 
Great Day of time ; nor is it sung, " The Morn 
And Ev'n " ; — the days of God begin and end 
With noon, high noon. In burning splendors, lo, 
The evening leadeth on the singing heavens ; 
With vesper praises answered softily 
In mus'cal deeps : these heard, beaming Our love, 
More priz'd upon these artists of the shell, 
Than dazzling gems strown on pelagic floor ; 
Or, shining nuggets quarried from the mine. 
And now the Couriers announce the Morn, 
To fill and finish all the work decreed 
Upon the day when eloah saith, " Bring forth 
Abundantly O Seas ! the souls that swarm 
And swim the swirling wave, and stream ; of fish 
Swift chasseurs of the deeps ; and birds of wing ; 
Each to his kind and apposite his time 
And place." 

With wands of flame the Couriers, 
Creative Airs, forestall the Southern sun, 



60 THE PLEROMA. 

And fan the sea, while Types, conjunctive types, 
Impinge the fecund wave, and float caressing. 
Devonian age, awake, thy realm possess ! 
As vassals, harry now yon princely forms 
These coasts ; as tfz><2/z/-couriers await thy beck, 
Scorning to measure time, or turn, to do 
Thy bidding. 

First of the legions, captain, 
If not their sire, plieth the plated Ganoid ; 
If more or less than fish thou be ; if Sauroid ; 
If kin of those bursting the bands of sea, 
To fly the air, or stalk the beach ; if each 
Or all, compact in one composite form ; 
Still shudder far the waters as he swims, 
And shining, proves his prowess weaken'd naught 
By strange and weird complexity. 

Flanking 
Him where he floats, behold his twin-born sons — 
Dinichthys, filling all the ocean main 
With dread. And Asterolepis, with teeth 
Reptilian, whose mammoth jaws open 
And shut, as ragged shears ; whose backs stout-built, 
With triple horn and starry scales implex'd 
And imbricate ; while closely swims uncouth 
Cephalaspis, with wing'd and fluted armor ; 
In form and force his mighty brother's equal. 

And now in splashing sportiveness stream on 
The swift marauders, warlike congeners, 
Nam'd each connoting well his rank and form ; 
The Ganoids speed the tides and glide as shadows 
Along the furrow'd plain, with terminal mouth 
And supple mail implex'd ; their skeleton, 



THE PLEROMA. 6 1 

Unfinish'd, yet an engine potent in the tail, 
Well vertebrate — effective oar and helm. 
Next, slowing in their serried might the rear, 
The plated Placoderms, their armor held 
Aloft the waves ; and labyrinthine teeth, 
In shining 'rray far down their gaping throats, 
Set ventrally ; their bulging bodies, half 
Invertebrate, fenc'd fierce with spines. Them all 
When seeking prey, the pristine monarchs shun — 
Orthoc'ra, Octopus, out-terror'd terror ! 
And peer, cyclopean-eyed from rocky haunts, 
In deeps profound and dark. 



THE .EONS. 

The Air of the ^Eons, the Daughters of Time, 
That number the secular changes in rhyme ; 
From the Cambrian gneiss to Corniferous lime, 

On the eve of the age Devonian. 
Ye Couriers, hail us, foretelling the gloom 
And a tempest portenting to myriads doom, 
As crumbling the empire of ocean gives room 

To the dominant arm Laurentian. 



Now curtain the shadows the down-arching beach 
And waters to Southward rich plateaus o'erreach ; 
By wisdom instruct, by wisdom we teach, 

On the eve of the age Devonian. 
Three variant strata consecutive trace — 
The coarse, the fragmental and calcareous ; 
While casts of the fossils define you the place 

On the roof of the rock Plutonian. 



62 THE PLEROMA. 

Niagara limestone, or Helderberg mount, 
Their harvest of fossils profusely recount ; 
With life juxtapos'd from the Hamilton fount, 

On the eve of the age Silurian. 
Of dynasties see the reliques blent — 
Orthoc'ra, trilobite, Coral anent, 
With ichthyic archives dismantled and rent 

In the gloom of a night Cimmerian. 

Where labor'd in glee the lime-loving swarm, 
Catastrophe falls upon bounty and form ; 
While burials beautiful sob in the storm 

On the eve of the age Silurian. 
Ye wane, O sweet, O fair-chamber'd shell ! 
The ^Eons have sounded thy funeral knell ; 
But types, kindred types, shall follow thee well, 

On the dawn of the age Amphibian. 



THE ANIMiE. 

We crawl and creep ; 
We climb and leap ; 
Swim we and fly 
Afar and high ; 

Life is our breath ; 
With Minerals wed, 
With Vegetae fed ; 
By Circles curv'd, 
And Binders nerv'd, 
While Couriers speed, 
And Limits read 

" Life treads on death.' 



THE PLEROMA. 63 

Upspringing forms, 
Full in the storms, 

That end our days ; 
God is our breath, 
Life feeds on death ; 
Short is the stay ; 
Brief the essay 

To sing His praise. 

Creator, Thou, 

Thrilling us now ; 

Voice of the seer 

Over the mere 

Lifting we chant ; 

Chang'd is our mood, 

Spurning all food ; 

Lost in surprise, 

Bury our eyes ; 

Cover our face, 

Meanwhile we trace 

Far down the stream — 

Fanciful stream- 
Fauna and Plant. 

Ichthyic monarchs of the main, 
Quaffing the wassail of the wave, 
Heed ye the gospel of the Sea ; 
Ye are the burden of our strain. 
Ceasing awhile to lash and lave, 
Hear ye what is, and what shall be. 

Reach'd is the limit of the old ; 

Known from this day be time as new ; 
The middle line hath life now pass'd : 



64 THE PLEROMA. 

Behold the plan of God unroll'd, 

And sing his praise, meanwhile ye view, 
And read, " The First shall be the last.' 

For God is one, and one his world ; 
And life aspires to breathe the air, 
The tread of feet, and whir of wing, 
Announce the ^Eons have unfurl'd 
The living bulletins ye wear, 
To analyze the forms ye bring. 

Lo, paddling yon Bavarian field, 
See ye the Archeosaurian ! 

Or fish, or reptile ? both or none ? 
Doth Placoid scorn to own his shield ? 
Doth Ganoid dread Amphibian ? 
And Placoderm his sons disown ? 

Devonian chiefs that scour the seas, 
Nature abhors the composite ; 

The sauroid forms shall rise or fall. 
Rise till they wing the scented breeze ; 
Fall till they crawl the oozy bight, 
While medial types intact forestall. 

Yet through the age of Acrogens, 
Amid the haunts of beast and man, 
Tasting the depths of Nature's fount, 
Gleams still the Ganoids' diadem, — 
Heir to the throne Devonian, 

Whose years in vain they seek to count. 

For God is one, and His world is one ; 
And the types are the links of a chain, 
And the chain is roll'd in the Germ. 



THE PLEROMA. 6$ 

God's way is one, and when it is done, 

And variant forms find their cradle again, — 
" The Permanent Type " is the law ye learn. 

THE PLEROMA. 

O verdureless and steaming slopes that bare 
Your bosoms from the surge, and fend the gulfs 
And still lagoons ; ye are the realm elect 
For Cryptogamia that swarm these shores, 
Alluring and allur'd. Saluteth you anon 
The Ancient North ; her fruits she sendeth forth 
In colonies to garnish all the earth. 
From circum-polar parts transplant, in soils 
More quick, and airs more humid, shall they soon 
Lead forth and crown the shallowing lake and marsh 
With herbage tropical ; naming their reign 
The Age of Plants. Then gird, O Vegetse, 
Afresh ! Pour from the shadowy urn of thoughts 
Your boon and beauties typical ; and haste 
The Age of Man ! Drink up the noxious airs 
With marvelous chemistries employ'd ! Store up 
The light and heat, the perfume and the oil ! 
Draw up elixirs from the tepid marge, 
And, dying, print a frescoed vault within 
The silted peat, from which in distant years 
Transform'd in radiances and calories, 
Wondrous illume the ways of God to man. 

And ye, O Animas, ye are now girt 
Afresh for mighty enterprise, what time 
The cosmic forces rally to your aid ; 
Your songs inspiriting have rous'd the Airs, 
And instant vigors fly as couriers, to do 



66 THE PLEROMA. 

Our pleasure. Mirror'd upon the horizons, 
Ye saw, and newly, the shining goal of life — 
The Plerome of pleroma, whereupon 
Your ecstacies express'd o'erpowering 
In lines prophetical, have thrill'd the Soul 
Itself of BEING. 



The Air of the Acrogens, — point-growing stems 

Myriad milliards 

Cellular Sigillards, 
Flowerless, bowerless, pitted, and scarr'd ; 

Millions rush-like ; 

Millions fern-like ; 

Gem of the anthracite, 

Reed-like Calamite 

Fluted and whorl'd, 

Hollow'd and curl'd, 
Intricate, infinite, cover the sward. 

Delicate fronds, 

Complicate bonds, 

Wide-spreading roots, 

Multiple shoots ; 

Needle-like leaves, 

Tapering sheaves, 

Odorous cones 

Conifer owns — 
The queen of the coal-forming band. 

Mystical cone, 

Joy of our throne ; 

Spiral'd and cleft 

Rightwise and left ; 

Primal and dual 



THE PLEROMA. 6? 

Spiral'd our jewel ; 

Quintuple, octuple, 

Obliquely parallel, 

Phyllotax windeth, 

Waxeth and bindeth, 
With God in the secret, guiding her hand. 

What time with wondering, 

Guessing and blundering, 
Finitely human figure thy line ; 

Whene'er with fancy — 

Queer necromancy ! 

Incidence, accidence, 

Join they with chance ; 

Sweet lips and dutiful ; 

Parting so beautiful, 

Telling and spelling, 

Kindly compelling 

If with reluctance 

Final acceptance — 

" God, he, hath made thee, 

Plac'd and array'd thee ! 
The thought of thy spiral 's truly Divine." 



THE SEASONS. 

The Song of the Seasons — offspring of the Year, 
In greeting fair Gaia, and bidding her cheer ; 

While each in her turn 

Pours forth from her urn 

The favoring treasures she gives to the Earth. 
Bright Summer, the first-born, her tropical wealth 
Of colors and odors, and savors of health : 



68 THE PLEROMA. 

'Midst showers of sheen, 
And oceans of green, 

And balmiest breezes, and measureless mirth. 

Next, Autumn, her fruits and sadly dear signs, 
For the rim of the trees and the leaf of the vines ; 

For the gild of the glade, 

And arboreal shade, 

Pours freely out of her golden horn. 
Then Winter her crystalline gems displays ; 
With icily bands for the rivers and bays ; 

A surcease of sorrow, 

Fore-shortening each morrow, 

With laughter and love while the fire burns warm. 

And, last of the sisters, the Eastering Spring, 
Untying the breezes she binds in her ring ; 

Her magical marvels 

She quickly unravels, 

And, J>resto, the white is a garment of green ! 
We four are four sisters — offspring of the Year ; 
In circuits returning allaying thy fear ; 

Each change giving beauty, 

Fulfilling our duty, 
While God in the secret preserveth the mean. 



The Archaean Marshes, measureless marshes ! 
Brilliant savannas, and forests of larches ! 
Peat-forming, warm, Carboniferous marshes 
That fringe the inland seas ; 



THE PLEROMA. 69 

Lepidodendra, scaly and spired ; 
Ribb'd Sigillaria, rudely attired ; 
Complicate tree-fern, ever admired, 
That murmur in the breeze. 

Hum with the nerve-wing insect swarms, 

Orthopter, neuropter, gay silken forms ; 

Rend with the earthquake ; moan with the storms 

That crush the shady bowers. 
Corridors echo to Archeosaurus, 
Bellowing near — a shuddering chorus ; 
Sluggard Amphibians drowsing before us, 

While Phoebus looms and lowers. 



The Cry of the coal-fields, 
Silted and sanded, 
Delug'd and stranded, 

Buried and whelm'd by the sea 
" Teredo ! " " Teredo ! " 
This dark realm of Pluto 
Yields thee its mystery. 

The cheer of the coal-fields ; 
Joy of the Teredo, 
Piercing thee far below, 

Reading thy epics in stone. 
Fairiest etching, 
Miniature sketching — 
Picturesque Carbon 
Bathing in Acheron, 

Priceless the treasure ye own. 



70 THE PLEROMA. 

O charm of the coal-mine ! 
Unctuous measure, 
Luminous treasure, 

Fuel stored up for mankind ; 
" Teredo ! " " Teredo ! " 
Piercing thee far below, 

Sings of provision design'd. 

THE PLEROMA. 

O fairest Flora ! hail, behold how throb 
And thrill the marshes and the glades with life ! 
Heard are intense and festive airs ; the Seasons 
Four, benignant, entertain the woods ; 
While from exhaustless garderobe, Nature 
Her heaths and everglades arrays. Of pride 
The Conifers display their curious cones — 
A micro-marvel — Ferns majestic rise — 
Vital transparencies. Lepidendrids, 
Wide-rooting, rhomboidal, and scaled, paint all 
The scene, a forest fleet ; the Calamites, 
With tapering, stately stems and jointings whorl'd, 
Uplift colossal ; while Sigillaria, 
As stubborn sentinels, protect the group. 

Yet lowlier forms arrest our gaze : the thorn'd 
And captious cactus, silly rush and reed ; 
The merry brake, the battle-loving moss ; 
Grasses and vines his fiefs ; these all allure 
And greet the pictur'd moths and butterflies, 
The cunning ants and beetles militant — 
Both Menelaus, Achilles, and in love 
Adonis. Next the housely weaving spider, 



THE PLEROMA. 7 1 

The suicidal scorpion, Arachnida, 

The timid cockroach Orthopter, all late 

Emerg'd the wave ; and pleas'd to creep the sward, 

Or fly the air ; feeding on nectaries, 

And sweets stolen from the amorous sun, 

Sometime, when peering 'neath the curtain'd woods, 

The playful Zephyrs slyly creeping him 

Behind, sipp'd from his horn elixirs rare, 

And quickly kiss'd the flowers. 

And ye of might, 
O Animae ! with cosmic airs engirt, 
Enforce the Law of Difference ; and haste 
Composite forms to specialize. The Sea 
Salutes the Land : the ocean-denizens 
Attempt the rising shores ; and thus excite 
The latent variants that foment in them 
Clamors and strivings, paroxysms fierce ; 
And heap diverseness on diversity. 
O wretched congeries ! O vital chaos ! 
Now breathe upon this troubled sentiency — 
Confus'd in mighty struggle with its selves, 
The Spirit of harmonious unity ! 
Whose distant goal is Man ; whose regimen 
Divides to join ; dissociates to wed ; 
Resolves to order and coordinate 
Again diffus'd extremes of Life in one 
Their ultimate and end. 

Ye Saurians ! 
This is the hour of fear and dissolution ! 
O Protean Labyrinthodonts ! despair 
Yawns from these ragged gills, and fretted lungs — 
Your hour and power dies utter, nor returns ; 
Yet dying, spring, full-ribb'd and ray'd at once 



72 THE PLEROMA. 

From out your crowded wombs more perfect fish 
And reptile ; as the Types prophetical 
The Neozoic world, do shortly trace 
Their lines divergent from your graves. 

THE PSYCHE. 

Ah, Permian Pall ! ah, crisis of doom ! 
What tremors and jars ! what salvage is hewn 

From the storm-riven shore ! 
What clysms of stays, and giant supports, 
While Ocean gives vent his fiery retorts 

'Midst froth and 'midst roar. 

What sobbing is this and anguish of birth, 

While mountainous wrinkles appear on the Earth, 

In the depths of the Permian night. 
O sigh of the marsh ! O throb of the deep ! 
Immutable forms have found their last sleep 

And wake nevermore to the light. 

The Birth of the Appalachian hills 

Is the carol of winds and the echo of dales, 

Of a widening continent ; 
O cairn of the Paleozoic age ! 
O turning point in the cosmic page, 

With a star for the mind's comment ! 

THE PLEROMA. 

Fled is the desolating storm ; and now 
Resume the choirs creative melodies ; 
The same, and yet another world is this ! 
The change how sudden, how paroxysmal ! 



THE PLEROMA. 73 

The pensive Flora hail their bright reserves — 
Palmetto-cycads answering, and those 
Call'd Cypress-Volzias ; while from the knolls, 
The breezy lifts of land, greet waving Palms, 
And sturdy Dicotyls, leading the van 
Of hardy forest trees. The crowded North — 
Primeval fount, anew pours forth her swarms 
Of lives, that swim and creep, that stalk and flit ; 
All Protean types, and plastic to each change 
Of clime, as is yon mute mirage that plays 
Its mimicries upon the vapory plain, 
Taught by the changing lights and shades. 

The Sea 
Shall shortly abdicate his throne and yield 
The Continents precedence ; the triple East — 
Europa, Asia, Africa ; the West — 
Twin-form'd Americas ; all offspring of 
That rock archaean of the midnight sun, 
And from his loins prolific peopled. 

For, 
Betwixt his spreading limbs, fast by the shore, 
A grotto small and dazzling rare with gems, 
Protects a crystal fountain call'd " The Fount 
Of Life," as sweet to taste and purely pure, 
As dew distilled and filtered o'er 
The dust of diamonds. Thus garnish'd bright, 
Illum'd with light direct from Phoebus' wheel — 
What time his daily round upon the wave 
Returning, shone full in the cavern's heart — 
The Flora, seeking for some sheltering spot 
To rest and taste refreshment, passing near, 
Perceiv'd the babbling stream ; when, glancing in, 
Awoke more joy and wcnder instantly, 



74 THE PLEROMA, 

Than when fair Gaia bared her breast, and bade 

Them early welcome. Entering forthwith 

They quaff'd elixirs from the living brook, 

And slept, the first or ever on the shores 

Of Earth. Eftsoon, the cosmic Airs return'd 

To this their trysting place, and saw with mute 

Uncertain wonderment, the spiritual Flowers 

In naked beauty sleeping ; half in doubt, 

And fearing 't were a figment of the mind : 

When innate pureness led them to withdraw. 

Refresh'd, the Flowers awoke, and bath'd them in 

The tonic bath ; clad them again in their 

Bright, perfum'd robes, and joining hands, went forth 

To trace the limpid stream unto the sea. 

There heard they drifting music on the air — 

The choir of Circles, Bands, and Couriers — 

Led by the rhythmic Limits ; and of love 

And guileless passion sang. O perfect forms ! 

Struck from the heavenly mint, God's precious Powers ! 

What marvels the event that nam'd this stream 

"The Stream of Life," where woo'd and wed 

The cosmic Airs the loveliest Flora ; 

And offspring rear'd beside the laughing fount ! 

Whence, as the rills to brooks, the brooks to rivers 

Descending grow, so yonder rill of germs 

Flows on increasingly, and spreads its banks 

Of plants and flowers athwart the continents. 



THE PSYCHE. 

The Rage of the reptile Saurians ! 
The Joust 'twixt the Sea and Land ! 



THE PLEROMA. 75 

'Mid the salt Lagoons, 
On the gypsum dunes, 
And the buff-blown shining sand. 

The shout of the Sea, " Enaliosaurs ! " 
The call of the Land, " Ye Dinosaurs ! " 

To the fray, O Powers ! 

While the storm-king lowers, 
And the billows kiss his wand. 

Ye plunging, paddling Placoderm ! 
In vain thy qualms, in vain thy roar, 

The chiefs of the Land 

Shall rule the Strand ; 
To the deeps, ye turtle Plesiosaur ! 

" The Land is lord " — the Couriers shout, 
" The reptile king is the Deinosaur ! 

He shall stalk the coast, 

With his bird-like host — 
The sovran-count of the Sea and Shore. 

THE PSYCHE. 

Hail to the Bird Primeval ! 

If bird, in truth thou be — - 
Hail to the winged reptile ! 

If saurian still we see. 

Is Pterosaur thy mother ? 

Stout-girded form ? 
Feather'd and firmly keeled, 

Contending with the storm ? 



j6 THE PLEROMA. 

Tell us, O bird ungainly, 

Since bird in truth we hail ; 

Why is thy beak reptilian ? 
And lizard-like thy tail ? 

Ah, Bird, thy say is ancient, 
Ancient as is the sun ; 

" Our type shall be perfected, 

When Limits shall have done. 

Lo, Couriers salute thee ; 

The Limits pass thee on ; 
And soon thy balanc'd pinions 

Shall hide the noon-day sun. 

THE COURIERS. 

We fly, we fly ! 

Swift is the work we essay ; 
Give fin to fish, 
And wing to bird ; 

And shortly are up and away. 

We fly, we fly ! 
Swift is the work we essay ; 

Yet pass not by, 

But linger nigh, 
Till the bird shall wing our way. 



The teleosts along the coasts 
Are the rangers of the deep, 
And the soft gazelle 
Over hill and dell 
Shall fly with winged feet. 



THE PLEROMA. TJ 

The bird of wing shall soar and sing, 

And pierce the azure height ; 

So hail, fair bride ! 

By the Couriers' side 
Is the pledge of song and light. 



The splendid reign Reptilian 

Falls crumbling on the strand ; 

But the Couriers trace a nobler race, 
Ruled by the Psychic Hand. 



CANTO VII 



THE ARGUMENT. 



The Sixth Creative Day evoked ; further preparations for 
the ensphering of the Psychce — The sEo?is sing the course 
of the Fauna — Lucifer, regent, visiteth the Earth and 
receiveth with disdain the ovation of the Ethers — The 
Sacrament for sin offered in the Heavenly Places — 
The cheer of the Psychce — The Cosmic Forces assem- 
ble and search inaugurated for Man now the universal 
Theme — The pleroma with the heavenly choirs at- 
tending breathes the psychic principle into the natural 
man in the sub-polar Paradise. 

THE ANIM^E. 

Terrestrial fervors, potent powers ! 

With vital forces wed ; 
Expressive tokens apposite 

Delight the marriage bed. 

Animic forms are bodied thoughts, 
With you their chief support ; 

Though sudden shocks dissever us, 
Again we soon consort. 

Or link'd or free, there is no death, 
Life goes to come again ; 

78 



THE PLEROMA. f$ 

The vital Airs are everywhere, 
And God is One in them. 

The crystal rhythms again evoke 

The Sixth creative Day, 
When God to us the Animae 

Conjoins his Majesty. 

Forthwith ye potent magnetisms, 
The psychic realm embrace ; 

And we, appris'd, advance the hour 
That greets the Godlike race. 

THE PLEROMA. 

How purely white and chaste these chalky rifts, 
That part pacific bays, where Rhizopods, 
And Coccoliths, lime-loving swarms, live out 
Their little day, minutely perfect lives, 
Among the minim forms of earth : and then 
Do softly drop their glinting micro-shells 
Upon the ocean floor, a sacrifice to man. 
Not less vicarious yonder corallines, 
That build themselves into his habitation ! 
Nor darkling where they sink, the carbon fields 
Express less benefit fore-given. Yea, if 
Were tax'd yon grizzly cliffs, Sierras, and 
Those Andean, in answering the quest 
Wherefore they groan and struggle from the waves, 
With mount'nous travail, — would they nod assent, 
" The canon of the world is Altruism." 

For yet hath fall'n no cool refreshing rains ; 
No mellow radiance fulls in the clouds : 



80 THE PLEROMA. 

No bath of fragrant dews, and crisp of frosts. 

This known, the legion of the cosmic airs 

Consentient strive, and push aloft yon mounts 

That ridge and belt the earth, and greet 

The morn of Neozoic time with leash 

Of winds and couchant clouds, that bide the day 

Of man, to water first the fallow ground. 

O burst of Life ! O leap of Flowers ! Erstwhile 
O'erspringing yonder shoals of clearest chalk, 
They green the foot-hills and the heights with growths 
Deciduous, adapt to cooler climes. 
Hail potent Day ! The Sixth creative scene ! 
Thee now salutes the forest choir with lute 
Of Evergreen and Laurel. Bidding on 
The stately Palm and Cypress — elder forms ; 
Forthwith, in silken robes and rustle, go 
The Sycamore and Tulip-tree, the Oak 
And silv'ry Poplar. 

THE PSYCH^E. 

Tears of the Poplar, mystical Amber ! 
Resin, translucent and pale ; 
Shed by Catania, 
While fair Urania 
Murmur'd her ominous tale : 

Story of strife abroad in the Heavens ; 
Lucifer, star of the morn — 

Prince of the Earth, 

Priding his worth, 
Useth Electron with scorn. 



THE PLEROMA. 8 1 

Noble Electron, first to Urania 
Born and embower'd in light, 

Rose in his splendor, 

Sought him to render 
Honor befitting his might. 

Lucifer loom'd in his armor defiant ; 
Heedless the voice of the Throne ; 

Flam'd in fierce choler, 

Reckless the dolor, 
Ruin to bring Electron. 

Quoth then the Voice of the Lord of the Heavens : 
" Lucifer ! Star of the Morn ! 

Spurning Our pardon ; 

Vain is thy guerdon ! 
Rent is thy kingdom and torn ! 

Hear ye, O Angels, the fiat of Heaven ! 
Psychae are loos'd from his sway ; 

Fief to Electron, 

Lucifer — Archon — 
Holdeth the Earth from this day. 

His be the physical realm and the motive ; 
Passion and pride his delight ; 

Reason, for choosing ; 

Will for refusing, 
Psychae shall hold in their right." 

Luminous Amber, seal of Electron ; 
Tomb of the whimsical bee ; 

Seeing, take warning ! 

Lucifer ! scorning 
The bliss of the pure and the free J 



82 THE PLEROMA. 

THE PLEROMA. 

Hail, leafy choirs, far from your common home 
In polar Paradise ! envoy'd by Flora, 
Exploiting vales and moors, the plateaus and 
The mounts ; part orientate to the land 
Of Dawn ; where mellow airs and gorgeous tints 
Entice them ; part streaming to westward where 
The Rockies rear their min'ral palaces, 
Along whose granite colonnades descend 
The footsteps of the setting sun ; growing 
Meantime in hardiness, and clad in green 
Perennial, against the shimmering fields 
Of snow. We pass you on, pronouncing good 
And perfect the Imago of the Flora. 

Ye are henceforth a volume lined and bound, 
Ornate with lustrous tokens of the Law 
Of Life — cause and effect, concurrent, of 
Environment. Thereto let Hindostan, 
And burning Vera Cruz ; wintry Thibet, 
And the eternal verns of Mexico ; 
The flooded forests of the Amazon — 
The Andean paramos ; Arcadian vales, 
And mossy Floridas, repeat the law 
Confirming that in nature nothing is 
Unto itself ; nor carries in itself 
The reason of its form and function. 

Wherefore, 
O psychic Airs, whose moods now mist and melt 
In tears and anxious auguries, more trist 
By far, deciph'ring in the electric gem 
The doom of Lucifer, with homage to 
The great Electron of the Sun ; whereon 



THE PLEROMA. 83 

Dependeth mighty ends and offices 

Of grace, ordain'd before the Earth was fram'd ; — 

Wherefore take heart, and surely know the race 

Ye run, when ye shall be inflesh'd and reck'd 

Among the incarnations of pleroma, 

Hath set for it a goal, whither ye run, 

As potent to transform and amplify 

The human powers, in striving thereunto, 

As yonder flowers diversify and feel 

The quick'ning virtus of the heights, quitting 

The shores and humid meads, to gain thereby 

Regal varieties and nobler splendors. 

Behold and ponder, psychic Airs, the key 
Of individuated life ! a talisman 
And recondite devise to correlate 
Home and its habitant ; this shall be styl'd 
The Difference, or Effort next of kin, 
Or Natural Selection ; but be assur'd, 
The fount of special forms is higher than 
The banks whose branching arms they course between. 

For " habitat," though excitant, that shapes 
Forms apposite and pairs peculiar lives, 
The potence to create and juxtapose 
Hath not ; nor recks the pangenetic germs 
First sown on inorganic shores. Nor shall 
The onward flow and upward effort end, 
Till ev'ry spiritual Plant and Animal, 
And Psychic individual, receive his place 
Among the orders of the Earth ; therefrom 
To share the triumph of pleroma-christ, 
Earth's apotheosis and Nature's Goal. 



84 THE PLEROMA. 

The essence of the outward world the mind 

Of finite man doth not perceive ; to him, 

(And ye, Psychae, shall we soon address 

As such), to him all knowledges are seen 

As relative, phenomenal — prints from 

A vast Unknown, beyond him and beneath. 

And lo, your eyes so soon to shut upon 

The Infinite, are voyaging far and near 

This world of blooming difference, to fill 

Your souls with proofs, exhaustless and abiding, 

Of a Divinity in Earth, and of a Love 

That frames and furnishes for man his home. 

First, ye survey the humid realm and note 
The deeps profound of Ocean ; their colors and 
Their currents strong that clarify the seas : 
The mighty rush of tidal waves that break 
Upon resounding shores ; the gusty winds 
That race with fickle lust athwart the main ; 
And those more constant, veering Southward far ; 
Or the Monsoons that taste the feverish tropics. 
How blue and how intense the azure sky ! 
The air how light and rare ! This is the time 
Of calms, the zone of om'nous silences : 
Behold the regnant orb hastes on his course 
With ashen countenance and dread t' ascend 
His zenith throne. Abide his culmination ! 
Ah stifling heats, and dank humidities ! 
That weight the atmosphere quiv'ring beneath 
The flames of Phoebus ! Lo, the sleeping storm 
Awakes ! grave Silence breeds terrific roar, 
And inky spectres spring full-grown and grim 
Into the sky. The Psychae quake ; fall rains, 



THE PLEROMA. 85 

And rush the floods ; the meadows sink along 
The Orinoco's marge ; while Paraguay- 
Becomes a land of lakes and low lagoons. 
Aquarius turns his spout upon the crown 
Arid selvas of Madeira — queen of streams ; 
Next, rich supplies invokes the ancient Nile, 
Immortal flood, dark Afric's eldest born. 

O Winds, the day of Man is nigh ! Lift from 
The waves moist exhalations, bearing them 
On wings unseen, and yield their vap'ry treasures 
Yon mounts to irrigate the land. For airs 
Surcharg'd with drink no longer drift and lie 
Upon the widening landscapes. Hear their song ! 

Greet ye the semi-circling Alps, and Ghauts 
In vapors hid ! the arched Apennines, 
And Himalayas, nurse of streams ! Greet not 
The smoky Caledonias ! Sing not 
Of Tangout's drought, nor of Sahara's waste ; 
But Thibet sing that weds the tropic Ind 
With royal dower ; Deccan and Indo-China, 
With gums concentrate, aromatic spice ; 
Of Cinnamon and Clove ; Nutmeg and Ginger ; 
With Coffee-plant and Tea in utmost Orient. 
Sing of the Occident in rivers proud ! 
The Rios and that Maranon ! Ohio ! 
Missouri ! Sing the Giant Palm far-fam'd 
Of South-America, the leafy king : 
Of dazzling flowers and climbing vines profuse, 
That scorn the paucity of animals. 
Sequoia sing, the loftiest of the Pines, 
Whose stalwart quadrates guard unequall'd vales 



86 THE PLEROMA. 

Of golden California. The Cedar sing, 

Elect of God and named " The Tree of Life " — 

The throne and glory of the garden-choir — 

Fair symbol of man's immortality : 

Whence God shall crop a young and tender twig, 

And plant it on a mountain eminent 

In Zion : a plant of great renown. Thus far 

And wide ye glance the teeming continents, 

O psychic Airs, the Law of Difference 

Exploring, and confirming how all forms, 

Indigenous, reflect both site and clime ; 

Each plant and animal connotes his home 

To be terrestrial or maritime, 

Or insular. If mean, embryonal, 

The last ; if varied, vigorous, the first ; 

If feminal and lavish of soft garbs 

And sensuous animism, the median. 

THE PSYCH^E. 

O fair illusions ! Rivers, Waves, and Winds ; 
Whence is the force that flows ? the sympathy that binds ? 
Which is the organific ? which the inorganic field ? 
By Bands magnetic, and electric Couriers, thrill'd. 

Ye mighty bastions of the continents, 
By earthquake seam'd and fiery rain besprent ! 
Say whence the Power pent up within your breast ? 
Bid pulsive Limits calm and give thee rest ! 

Ye Circles, hail ! the living orbit swings ; 
Life's summit reach'd, again its Author brings ; 
Then haste your course, ascend the way of Man ; 
For now the stream returns whence it began. 



THE PLEROMA. 8? 

The fin preserves its type, — the ganoid Pike — 
Yet yields the Saurian paw, and wing, alike ; 
Upward attains the true placental kind, 
While hoof and hand forestall the reign of mind. 

much pleroma ! hast Thou shown to-day 
To speed our courage on the earthward way ; 
Our incarnation we accept with grace, 
If Thou do still reveal to us Thy Face. 

THE ^EONS. 

The Air of the ^Eons, the offspring of Time, 
As, calling the course of the hours, they climb 
To the verge of the Sixth great day sublime, 

On the Uintah beds of Coryphodon ; 
O OEnnigen sands ! O silvery beach ! 
The lesson here writ is the lesson we teach ; 
The words of thy strand are the fossiliz'd speech 

Of the insect fly and the Tillodon. 

These wrecks, by the way, do their wand'rings rehearse ; 
As vassals of sun and clime they disperse, 
Where wide is the world ; and climes are diverse ; 

And name us the steps of their variation ; 
Echidna, Anteater, and Marsupial, 
Kangaroo, Wombat, and vile Sacophile ; 
Cetaceae the Right, and the great Rorqual ; 
The Amphibian Morse, and the Ursine Seal ; 
Till we meet the Mammalia placental, 

By slow or paroxysmal gradation. 

Weird age of the Sauroid horde, thou art gone ! 
But huge are thy offspring the thickets that throng ; 



88 THE PLEROMA. 

If Paleothere old, or Dinothere strong ; 
Dinoceros fierce, and the big Mastodon ; 
Woe wails o'er the earth in aphelion 

And the glacial cold that ensues. 
Haste Ungulate herald thy record unroll ! 
And tell us the variant names on thy scroll ; 
The even-toed Ruminants, the Pachyderm odd ; 
Ox, Tapir, and Camel, Camelopard : 
From Hippus tri-digit in Eocene lifts, 
To the one-finger'd horse of the Pliocene drifts, 

And its value to man that accrues. 

O realm of the Circles ! we pause to descend 
To the Florida reefs ; and their terraces trend ; 
See order in species instinctively bend 

Submissive from earliest to latest ; 
Actinidae, Fungoids, Astereas, Pontes ; 
Thence rising to Madrepores, Halcyonites ; 
The Limits announced, the Lerneans proceed, 
With Trilobites, Lobsters, and Crabs in the lead, 

Till the Vertebrate type Thou instatest. 

Anew We salute the Mammifer age, 
To trace out the links in the penumbral stage 
Of Man : O Man ! thou must come ; for the page, 
And the last wants its finis alone ; 
But hush ! See effulgent yon cloud on the strand, 
Advancing and meeting the cosmical band ! 
O moment impending ! we fear to command ; 
Art Lucifer proud ? or the great Electron ? 

THE PSYCHE. 

The God of the Gall-fly is the God we adore, 
And the suffering Oak that protects it ; 



THE PLEROMA. 89 

O mothering tree ! 

What cradles ye build 

These minims to shield, 

As nice in their nest 

As the bliss of the blest ! 
Say who hath inspir'd thee to use of thy store, 

And build for this fly 
A house with no visible eye that directs it ? 

Ah, bothering fly ! 

What brushes ye ply 

So worryingly ! 

With needle and hasp, 

With auger and rasp, 

Whilst flower and leaf, 

Thou bringest to grief ; 

Whence cankering juice 

Exudes for thy use, 

And the Oak bends with awe 

To the march of the law 
Which Flora to Fauna subdueth : 

Yea the meanest insect she bows to protect ; 

And the gulf that divides 

Mute sympathy hides ; 

While a tree without hands 

Feels silent commands ; 

Takes a waif to its breast, 

And fashions a nest, 

Lest the infant should die, 

As in innocency 
Grows pregnant the cell it embueth. 

The God of the Gall-fly is the God we adore ; 
And the suffering Oak to protect it ; 



90 THE PLEROMA. 

And marvel the psychical Airs more and more 
As they traverse the world and inspect it, 

Do we sing of the Gall, 

And its succulent ball ; 

Or the Moth do we sing 

With its mimicry wing ; 

Or the skill of the Bee 

That honeys the tree ; 

Or the flash in the stream 

Where the Ousel doth gleam ; 

Clad in glistering white 

As it darts from our sight, 

With song's purest lute, 

'Neath the tinkling brook : 

In each and in all ; 

Or greater or small ; 

The Animae's word 

Is everywhere heard : 
" Our life is the gleam of the glorious Sun : 
And our instincts are rhythms of feeling ; 
Innate in us, Reason and Will both are one, 
To the infinite ever appealing." 

THE COSMIC ETHERS. 

Hail Star of the Morn ! thou archon of Earth ! 
The Cosmical forces congreet thee ! 

The Circles surround ; 

The Couriers sound 
Their jubilant notes as they meet thee. 

The Bands joining hands, 

Await thy commands, 
With Limits extolling thy worth. 




OAK GALLS, WORM AND FLY. 



THE PLEROMA. 9 1 

The Flora, our brides, abide in the grove, 
Where they cheerily wait thee O Guest ! 
Thou shalt rest in their bowers, 
And beguile thee the hours, 
And call us to do thy behest. 

LUCIFER. 

Ye mundane Energies ! substantial Airs ! 
You, Lucifer, indulgent prince, salutes ! 
And in you be this Earth your handiwork 
Saluted. Ye do call us, " Prince of Earth " : 
And festive bands obsequious advance 
To greet with salvos of devotion. Aye ! 
If ye that look conglob'd and circumscrib'd 
Be Circles, hail ! Your rotary regimen 
We welcome heartily, and shall employ 
In arcum-coUoquies convenient. 

If ye 
That stand aloof, divisive Limits be, 
The Negatives in Nature, Lucifer 
Foresees for you a vicinage anent 
The very heel of power, whene'er mankind, 
(Our forfeiture and wreck'd avenge), doth meet 
This ancient Throne of Heav'n. 

O bitter light ! 
Even Electron, nominate the liege 
Of Lucifer ! Zounds ! Shortly stall'd in this 
Our proper heritance and right divine, 
By damnable respect of personages riv'n, 
They shall but rue atteint they make on this 
Puissant princedom. 

Sweetest Bands, in peace 
Draw near, nor let our ardent imageries 



92 THE PLEROMA. 

Perturb you. Lo, a mighty Star from Heav'n 
Hath fall'n, whose flaming chariot did drive 
The stars in dense confuse to 'void his way. 
The Earth shall place a crown upon his brow, 
When he will make the Bands his body guard. 
Draw near, and, doing reverence, receive 
A kiss implicit on your foreheads. 

Ha! 
Mercurial Couriers ! forsooth, and ye 
Are further nicknam'd " Lights " and " Heats," and call 
The Cherubim your sires ! Let Lucifer 
Ungird his splendors once, and bare his form, 
O vassals ! errant, ye could not then boast 
Such derivation. Lo, Electron (he, 
In arrogance usurping Psychse's realm), 
Whose native brilliancy and calories, 
Ten thousand Earths exceed, fled at our glance 
And whined for succor, crouching low behind 
The Stool of Heaven. Aye, him had I expos'd 
A stiffen'd sycophant that froze, cushion'd 
On drowsy tapestries, meantime he said 
His Paternosters, had the Imperial Throne 
Kept stern impartiality. 

Go to ! 
And speed your flight ; nor need have ye, nor have 
The ardent Animae to tell the spell 
Ye newly feel ; we too are warn'd, and seek 
With you the new-born Man. Go, Couriers, haste ! 
And bring us word that we may come, forthwith 
His cradle ye espy, and worship him. 

More art and circumspectness us behooves, 
And space for fresh designs. 



THE PLEROMA. 93 

How fair the Earth ! 
What marvels hedge our glance on ev'ry side ! 
The seals and symbols of exhaustless power. 
The rule of such a star particular, I say 
The undivided rule, an archangel 
Might solace, ending psedagogic walks 
Among the infantiles of Heav'n, outgrown 
A child's unquestioning stare upon his tutors, 
To claim his birthright in his Maker's name — 
Not more nor less than a proportional, 
And proper share and interest in empire. 
And this, forsooth, is " treason," " damnable pride " ! 
O wrong'd and righteous legions ! banish'd thus ! 
Nor vain nor comfortless your mutual wounds ! 
The heavenly choruses are thinn'd to-day, 
And lustreless. The virile basses and 
The baritones are gone : " Fall'n " did we hear 
Utter'd by feminal seraphs, what time 
Heroic glanc'd our perfect sense and trust 
In just demands upon the Almighty 
For fair partition of his ministries. 
O then arose ten thousand royal youth, 
Full stalwart " nurslings" of the angel-world, — 
All noble born among the sons of God, 
To rally our discomfiture ; while He, 
Whose word is life or death, imperious, 
Rejected this our suit and brave petition. 

THE PLEROMA. 

The sovran Father bows in grief, and Heav'n 
Is rob'd in black. The angel-choirs are hush'd ; 
The flaming Cherubim infold their wings 
Before the sorrowing heart of God, dreading 



94 THE PLEROMA. 

The occultation of the Throne ! O Word ! 

The Son Eternal ! Heir ! and Heav'n's Gift ! 

Repairer of the breach ! Restorer Great 

Of Heav'n and of the Earth ! pleroma calms, 

While Thy eternal Gift vicarious 

We name unto the troubled psychic Airs, 

Whose cheeks do pale against the coronal 

Of Lucifer as regent of the Earth. 

Ye flock, and press Our Heart, Psychae ! Be calm ! 

God rules ! The righteous Throne of Heav'n endures ! 

And as We speak, the Voice of the Eternal, 

Anon, is heard above the amazement vast 

Of the Angel-world ; and peace, sovereign peace, 

Is seal'd forever with the sons of God ! 

All plaint is swallow'd up beyond recall, 

Of arbitrary rule and power exclusive ; 

While feigned wrongs are shorn at once of all 

Their sophistries. 

How dimm'd is Lucifer ! 
Not less in glory than in spirit ! Ah, how 
The Father loved him, nor hateth now. 
Ye start aback dear Thoughts, as ye recall 
The deeds of him told by Urania, 
Seeing the cosmic-Airs salute their prince 
And bid him early welcome. 

As ye view'd 
The pristine Earth, drank of its purling brooks, 
Pluck'd of its fruits ; and tasted its spices ; 
In variant clime and land admir'd its own 
Appropriate flower and animal ; mean-while 
In you grew confidence and will to make 
Your 'bode on this bright star, greeting a world 
Ready and waiting for your immanence, 



THE PLEROMA. 95 

A Sacrifice for sin, (or Heav'n's or Earth's), 
Was made, and seal'd forevermore, whence God 
Hath heal'd the breach with Love and bridged o'er 
The way to pardon. Fear not Lucifer ! 
By ancient law, the archon of this star, . 
Which, for a time by clemency, he holds 
With man concurrent ; but joy ye therein 
To dwell inflesh'd, a god-like race and free ; 
Whilst bodiless and impotent to harm 
Sways he his cosmic wand. 

THE PSYCHE. 

Creation fulls ; the Circle rounds ; 
Heard is the omnific Will ; 

Reach'd is the Goal ;. 

Perfect the mould ; 
Now Psyche souls instill ; 

Out of the deep, 

Sighing from sleep ; 

Out of the night 

Reaching for light, 

Sentiency breaks, 

Glows and partakes 
Of rational powers in the Image of God. 

Reason threefold, 

Filling the mould, 

Fram'd and ensoul'd ; 

Body of clay ; 

Soul Anima ; 
And Spirit the Fulness (pleroma) of God. 

THE COURIERS. 

We flash and fly, and haste to espy 
The form of the god-like race ; 



90 THE PLEROMA. 

We traverse the East, and traverse the West ; 

And find of man no trace. 
To the South we go, and gleam and glow, 

But see no human guise ; 
To the North we wend, where glories blend, 

Lo, here is Paradise ! 

O garden of God ! we pause overaw'd ! 

And pale with the bliss we enjoy ; 
O lights how intense ! with clouds of incense ; 

And fruits that never shall cloy. 
Ah, burst of the sun ! We shudder and shun ! 

Or Man, or pleroma is here ! 
Naught lacks to convince ; we haste to our prince, 

Apprising where Man doth appear. 

LUCIFER. 

Hie, tardy wings ! This Star of Morn might wind 
A thread of gold a million times around 
The globe ; and orient from pole to pole, 
Whilst ye do idle out the hours in search 
Of Man. Ha, and ye startle ? Shall Lucifer 
Die thus to reason ! try discourse with squint 
And nod, and idiot grimace ? Away ! 
Dull solitude shall rather solace us, 
At worst, she cannot wear and worry us 
With senseless mutterings. 

Speak on, O voice ! 
Thou sayest unto Lucifer, " Be subtle ! 
Else shalt thou fail. Once lost, ye hardly coin 
Anew subservience from these Airs ! For know 
The Almighty binds them with a slender thread 
Unto thy signet ring ! Despise not thus 



THE PLEROMA. 97 

These potences of Earth and Air, wherewith 
Ye shall eftsoon compass the human race ; 
Infect their minds ; corrupt their appetites ; 
Flavor their dishes ; bead them draughts distill'd ; 
Inflame desire, engender lust, yea, cloy 
The heart and banish Heaven ! " 

Whence these foul thoughts ! 
Answer, O soul ! Heard'st thou thyself now speak ? 
Or heardest thou an alien ? Marry ! And had 
The aleim charg'd such thoughts on Lucifer, 
Outrageous wrong had burst his throat thereat ! 
O voice, thou rail'st on Lucifer ! He hath 
Not will'd to wreck a sinless being. Confess'd 
We smile not this intrusion on our realm. 
'T is true we cogitate, and rankle ; God knows ; 
Yet voice, thou liest, when thou say'st that we 
Have will'd to ruin man t' avenge ourself 
For our own ruin. To find one's eyes is this 
To perish ? Is damnable ? Lo, Lucifer 
Hurl'd headlong from the highest heav'n, thereat 
Enjoys more self-respect, nay, honest fame, 
Than tongueless slavelings, concerting perforce, 
'Mid shining miseries, accord the Almighty. 
If we do know ourself, our sole resolve 
Is pious, neighborly, to do to them, 
As we would have them do to us ; dispel 
Illusions ; apprise immortal souls of rights 
Sequester'd ; rally doubt ; and give fresh worth 
The personal equation. Silent queen ? 
Thou hast evok'd a clear design from out 
A shadowy soul and troubled ; suing thee 
To go with us, we wrap a mantle o'er 



98 THE PLEROMA. 

Our shining form, bending our obvious course 
To Northward, whence return'd, the Couriers, 
Benumb'd and mute with wonder, pretext gave 
To chide and chasten them ; though inward grew 
Belief that they had seen the man divine ; 
Yea, gaz'd upon the pleroma. 

THE PLEROMA. 

Hath Lucifer the Couriers mov'd, thus soon, 
To shun disloyally, the face of God ! 
And knowing too, in serving him they do 
The pleasures of aleim ! Ill tide ! Ill tide ! 
These tim'rous wings, trying horizons far ; 
And wavering 'twixt heav'n and earth : bearing, 
Aloft the hymeneal badge, — a hand 
Of clay, and clasping it a hand of spirit. 
O mystic link ! Far wiser, did their prince 
Preserve this bond unbroken. Banished 
From sinister designs in Heav'n, now goes 
He forth to wreck the favor'd star of God. 
Ah, haughty mind ! Thee thy Creator warns, 
Of utter fall remediless. Thou knowest, 
And well, how yonder god-like human shape 
Completes the cosmic wheel ; and gathers up 
Earth's radiants ; and binds them into one. 
If then thou rashly break the awful link 
In Man, ye shatter Nature at the centre ! 
The Couriers clash and clang ; the Limits fall ; 
The myriad Motions wabble in their course ; 
And thou shalt sit upon Confusion's throne. 

Rise, Adam, rise ! Wake thou and look upon 
Thy Maker's face, breathing the Psychic life 



THE PLEROMA. 99 

Print we a kiss upon thy lips ; and mix 

Our breath with thine. O Man ! Ourself, thyself ! 

We greet, reflect in one commutual Life ! 

Nor Spirit all ; nor flesh ; but both commix'd. 

Hearst thou the quiring angels ? and seest thou 

The dazzling fires ? Ye Trinity of Names ! 

The heavens o'erflow and flood the Earth with light I 

Hail Spirits ! Cherubim ! and Seraphim ! 

Hail Fires ! and Winds ! and Angel-Ministries ! 

THE ANGELS. 

Immanent Godhead ! Nature's Pleroma ! 
Light of her lights ! 
Might of her mights ! 
Soul of her Psychae ! 
Fount of her Animae ! 
Life of her Vegetae ! 

Womb of her cosmical choir ! 

Process eternal — fulness creative ! 
Angels descending 
Marvel attending ; 
Worship and praise Thee, 
While all amaz'd we 

See Thee Psychical Forces inspire ! 

Life for the lifeless ; breath for the breathless ; 
Flora, Fauna, and Psychae the deathless ; 

List we the ^Eons, 

Singing their paeans, 

Pointing the way unto Man ; 

Calling the days_ — 

Creative days ; 



IOO THE PLEROMA. 

Naming the ages, 
Sextuple stages ; 
Nature ascending, 
Heavenward trending, 

Rising to where it began. 

Heaven and Earth now blend in the Human — 
Presence substantial, Glory express ! 
View we and marvel ; 
Fail to unravel, 
The Mights of Eloah, 
The Names of Jehovah — 
The Goal of pleroma — 

Infinite-Finite ! finish'd Process ! 



BOOK II. 

CHRIST IN HISTORY. 



THE PROCESS OF THE PLEROMA 
IN HISTORY. 



I. — The Process of the ' ' Circles. " 

I. — In. spheres and spheroidal forms of the minerals. 

2. — In cyclic growths and patterns of the vegetable and 
animal kingdoms. 

3. — In cyclic movements of human history. 

4. — In the completed Creation, to wit, " Jahveh" — the 
Christ. 
II. — The Process of the " Bands." 

1. — In molecular energies, elective, cohesive, and adhe- 
sive, giving form, place, and fixedness to minerals. 

2. — In symmetry and alignment among plants and 
animals. 

3. — In the gregarious and social instincts among ani- 
mals and men. 

4. — In civitate dei, which is the Church of Christ. 
III. — The Process of the " Limits." 

1. — In the diversity and divisibility of mineral forms. 

2. — In the differentiation of flora and fauna. 

3. — In the individual and race peculiarities, defining 
gifts physical, intellectual, and moral. 

4. — In rewards for virtue and punishments for sin in 
the providential and moral government of God. 
IV. — The Process of the " Couriers." 

I. — In the volant (winged) forces : light, heat, and 
electricity. 

2. — In the locomotive powers and migratory movements 
of organic beings. 

3. — In the trend of history ; in the prophet insight into 
the final Cause in things. 

4. — In the Courier of Couriers, Jahveh-Christ, appear- 
ing in the Incarnation, bringing light and salvation 
to men. 

103 



THE PROCESS OF THE DIVINE "NAMES." 



r I.— The Father. 
I.— The Invisible Heavens J II.— The Son. 

[ III.— The Spirit. 
r I.— Fire. 
II. — The Visible Heavens -I II. — Light. 

[ III.— Air (Ether). 
III.— The " MIGHTS " of the Garden— Elohim (Aleim). 

f I.— The bull. 

IV. — The Cherubic Signatures J 

J III. — The eagle. 

I IV. — The man. 

V. — The Theanthropic " Seed" of the woman, — Jahveh. 

VI. — Jahveh-Aleim (Jehovah is God Almighty). 

VII.— Jahveh-Adonai (Jehovah is the LORD). 

VIII.— Jahveh-Christ (Jehovah (Lord) is the CHRIST). 



BOOK SECOND. 



INDEX OF CHORUSES, SONGS, AND RECITATIVES.* 

Choruses : 

The ^Eons : page 

" Name ye, O sisters, the children of japheth " .180 
" Sing the Lithic ages twain ! " . . . .189 

" Rise, ye Sisters, gaze the sky-tree's golden fruit ! " 191 
" Hither, sweet sisters !" . ..... 196 

"We trace on our scroll the fallible rhyme " . .218 
" We sing victorious chant to jah " . . . . 235 

" Write, sisters, write, the wonderful night ! " . . 238 
" Number we, name we, the Hebrew encampments," 241 
" The rod ! the rod ! the conquering rod ! " . . 244 
" Write, sisters, write the Exploits of the Judges " . 265 
" The Circles weave the Eden-ring" . . . 282 

" Where, O where is the Messiah ? " . . . 312 

The Angels : 

" Wing the height of Paradise ! " . . . .122 
" The guardian angels bid the pilgrims wary " . . 214 

" How art thou hated, dreamer, hated ! " . . . 223 

" The Hebrew divineth the dreams " . . . 226 

" Till Shiloh, Shiloh, come !" . . . . 229 

"' On eagle wings ' the choral sings " . . . 245 

" God's altar lifts 'mid fiery rifts ! " .... 246 
" The priests are anointed " ..... 250 
" The shout of a king is among them "... 257 
" God sendeth his prophets " ..... 273 

* This index is not designed to be complete, but as an aid in referring to lines 
which the reader might easily recall, and wish to refer to. Blank verse passages 
are not intended to be put in the index, nor every unimportant stanza, without 
title. — Author. 

105 



io6 



THE PLEROMA. 



Choruses — {Continued). 

" Jahveh hath said and will fulfil " . 
" Wing the message to the skies " 
" She hies to the dell, O lily-fair ! " . 
" He heedeth the dream " 
' ' O Shrine of loves ! O Soul of smiles ! 
" O heavenly chrism ! " . 
" Anointed One, haste on, jahveh " 
"-While the mount was vail'd " 
" He hath suddenly come to His Temple" 
The Bands : 

" Limits strive to sever" . 
" Ours is the way of the Saviour " 
" Melchisedek and Abram meet " 
" O jahveh, keep Thy Covenant 
" Thrills us a gladness celestial " 
" Far-sighted Couriers " . 
" So marvel the JEons the lore of the Line " 
" Gravities are trending " 
The Circles : 

" Rhythm of Being, cycles recurrent " 

" We bring the Sabbath of ALEIM " . 

" Hither, lord and lady, hither ! " . 

" She quaffs, lo, she quaffs of the fountain " 

" Lucifer, Lucifer, lord of the South ! " 

" O glories and powers, O whither art gone ? 

" The rhythms falter, the Measures faint " 

" A sob, a groan, a face of fear " 

" Flown is the Nesama — Image Divine " 

" Twirl, twirl, sisters, twirl ! " 

" Spheric figure, key of worships " . 

" In Abram the light renews " 

" Terrace of fragrance, circle of flowers" 

" We hymn the praise of Amram's son " 

" We sing Gilgal — the ' Circle ' — " 

" The people of jahveh return " 

" O Sabbath of Eden, how long ? ; 

" To-day, to-day, we sail away" 

' ' Bless we the pleroma " 



THE PLEROMA. 



I07 



Choruses — (Continued). 

The Couriers : page 

" We have traversed the East, O pleroma " . . 184 

" O glory of the Caucasus ! " ..... 185 

" We call the faiths, diverse, of man" . . . 186 

" We sing the cavalcades " ..... 220 

" We sing the vale of Happi Mu" .... 225 

" Flashes of light gleam in the night ! " . . . 260 

" Now flame we ! and fly unto Shiloh " . . . 266 

" ' A king ! ' 'A king ! ' they cry " ... 268 

" Proud queen of the hills, Samaria \ " . . 274 

" We lighten the soul of the seer" .... 277 

" We are nearing the Solar Name " .... 290 

" With shine and sheen, jahveh prevene " . . 326 
The Demons : 

" A world ajar ! a creaking hinge ! " . . . 127 

" Flare, flare, ye terrene flames ! " .... 161 

" The Stars consult, ah, ah, oh, oh ! " . . . 213 
" The spirit of the oak doth bid thee haste " . .214 

" He is ninety and nine, I ween " .... 217 

" Tu whit ! tu whoo ! O owl, beshrew " . . . 219 

" Stir the poisonous dry grass " .... 227 

" Drink the porridge ev 'ry one " .... 228 

" Angels rant at Moses' mention " .... 230 

" Double their tasks, goading with hasps ! " . . 233 

" Satan rages, damns the mages " .... 236 

" Esau's sons are doubtful neighbors " . . . 242 

"Ho, ho, a fine presto " . . . . . . 248 

" Here 's a swig to Israel ! " ..... 253 

" The grave is watched by el's angel " . . . 258 
" Satan is stuffed with plaints " . . . .270 

" The trance ! the trance ! the purblind defiance ! " . 273 

" Fur-fur on yon butterflies ! " . . . . 280 

" Molech dead ! Molech dread ! " .... 282 

" Hie, hie, travel, slyly " ...... 302 

" Here 's an astrologic bit " . . . . 305 

" Herod is mocked " ...... 306 

" Ho, ho, wanton imps ! " ..... 315 

" How Tophet spawns and yawns" .... 324 



io8 



THE PLEROMA. 



Choruses — {Continued'). 

The Ethers : 

" Melody in speech " .... 

" Fairily, airily" ..... 
" Hail Him, hail Him, cosmic Chorus ! " 
*' We near the Sabbath of our rest " 

The Evangel : 

" The birth of the Immanuel was on this wise 

" In days of Herod, the king" . 

" And in the sixth month came from God " 

" Then Mary, the Virgin, arose in haste " 

11 Elizabeth in time brought forth a son " . 

" On the wintry hills abiding " 

" And the child grew " .... 

" He said to them, — ' How is it that ye sought me ? ' 

" Then cometh Jesus also unto John " 

" And straightway the Spirit drave Him away 

" The next day John, beholding Jesus, saith " 

" And the Jewish Passover was at hand" . 

The Limits : 

" Speed, ye Courier graces ! " . 

" Suffering engendereth, rendereth drear" 

" Cheer, cheer, God draws near ! " . 

" Hear'st thou the bleating ewe?" . 

44 Ho, ho, doth Satan go?" 

"Circles, whither ply ye?" 

" Thou mournest thy bravest, O Jabin ! " 

" Line and compass take we . 

44 Ethnic orbits bending" 

44 The man draweth nigh "... 

Voices : 

44 The moan of the mother, the cry of the child 

4 4 Awake ! awake ! from thy wine ! " 

44 Creation groaneth" .... 

The NAMES: 

' 4 The Eden-Covenant is made to-day " 

The Cherubim : 

44 Rolling, reeling" ..... 



THE PLEROMA. 



9 



Choruses — {Continued). 
The Sons of Aleim : 

" Ask ye our worship ? " . 

" Ours is a mission of daring performance " . 
The Sons of Enos : 

' ' Canaan thy child, vows by thine altars, O Enos 
The Daughters of Enos : 

" O princes of El" ..... 
The Captive Women : 

" Cease from this bloodshed ! " 
The Conjurers : 

"We conjure, we conjure the Maskim" . 
The Magi : 

" We worship thee Star of stars ! " . 
The Elders : 

" O ineffable Jehovah Israel !" 
Israel : 

" Alas the fatuity " .... 

" We bring our gifts " 



Odes 



" Voices of Eden, beautiful isle " 

" The faces of aleim move in the Garden " 

" The doom of the demons, — Arrah, arrah ! " 

" The Bruit of Demons wrack'd and curs'd" 

" The Ode of the Orient — " 

" The ode of the oaks — the evergreen oaks," 

" He liveth, Jehovah liveth ; reprieveth " 

" The Glory of Modin" .... 

" The King of the Ethers came wooing our St 

" The solar splendors dull and fade ; " 

" The Lay of the Lights Messianic, from Eden 

" Great pan is dead ! " .... 

" ' The gods are dead,' the Cynic said " . 

To Rome ...... 

To Herod 

" The Song of the Stars, — the wondering stars 

" Ah, mournful town of Bethlehem ! " 

" In the emerald circle of Galilee dwelleth " 



PAGE 

167 
168 

169 

168 

169 

202 

305 
247 

247 
249 

138 
142 
145 
173 
195 
213 
277 
283 
294 
294 
296 

297 
298 
298 
300 
304 
307 
309 



IO 



THE PLEROMA. 



Odes — {Continued), 

" How happily, holily, rear'd is He ! " 

" Least of the daughters of Galilee " 

" Gentle as a child — mighty as a God " 
Hymns : 

" The Hymn of the Hebrews, girded and shod " 

" The eve of the Exodus " 

Of Elizabeth 

Of Mary the Virgin 

' ' O sages of the earth, how marvel ye alway " 

" The glory of PLEROMA shines "... 

" If ye ask the Muse I sing, I reply, — pleroma ' 
Songs : 

Of Eve : 

" Wraith of my lord, thou soar'st so high 

" Hail, hail, my lord " 

" My lord, thou art my Band, my joy " 

" The Aureole lifts " 

" For thee, for thee, I pluck and eat ! " 

" Love is forgetful, dalliance vain " 

" Love is luring, first assuring" 

" I am heavy and must lie in " 

' ' He lives, He comes ; salutes me from the Sky 

" Thou callest me Eve, the mother of men " 
Of Gaia: 

" Thou art wroth, O Sun ! " 

" O Sun and sire of Heaven . 

" In my grief I cried unto the King" 

" By thy faithful pledges "... 

" In visions I saw Thee, O wonderful Light 
The Seer : 

" I heard a voice in Heav'n that said " 

" Again my soul is stirred within " . 

" In visions of night JEHOVAH found me " 



Cain 



The bloods of my brother " . 

Ye Mights of the Mount, once effulgent 

Mark'st thou, my sister, the sheen ? " 



310 

326 
330 

236 

237 
291 

295 
302 

309 

33i 



120 
120 

125 
130 

133 
139 
141 

150 
151 

154 

175 
278 
287 
314 
328 

192 

199 
230 

162 
165 
167 



THE PLEROMA. 



Ill 



Songs — (Continued). 

Noah : page 

" Canaan is curst in Ham " ..... 180 

Of Moses : 

" I am faint with thinking "..... 231 

" Or God, or demon, I am here " . . . 232 

" The Lord is my strength and my song ! " . . 238 

" blot them not from thy book ! " . . . 248 
" Ye are come to the mount of the Amorites " . .251 

The Canaanites : 

' ' If we cry to Baal will he hear us ? " . . . 260 

Of Michael : 

" Jehovah rebuke thee . . . . . . 258 

" Of Jair and of Nobah, Princes of Manasseh " . . 256 

Of the Virgin : 

" In my dream there woo'd me One "... 287 

" If a dream, 't was most wonderful dream " . . 293 

A Voice : 

" Crime followeth sin in a round " .... 162 

" The hand of the homicide " ..... 163 

" The Magians muddle, they juggle and struggle" . 235 

" Behold, Joshua waxeth old " . .... 262 

" The august Caesar hath decreed " . . . . 297 

Lucifer in locis multis. 

The PLEROMA in locis multis. 



VOICES OF BOOK SECOND. 

The PLEROMA. 

The Divine NAMES. 

The " Circles," "Bands" "Limits" and " Couriers" 

Gaia, the Earth. 

The Ethers. 

The jEons. 

The Angels — Michael — Gabriel. 

Lucifer— SATAN. 

Adam. 

Eve. 

Cain ; the Sons of the " Aleim." 

The Sons and Daughters of Enos. 

Moses. 

The Canaanites. 

Cyrus, King of Persia. 

Mary the VIRGIN. 

Elisabeth her cousin. 

Zacharias, husband to Elisabeth. 

The Magi. 

The CHRIST. 



Il6 THE PLEROMA. 

Hail we the human, crown of creation ! 

Darling of God, and bond of two spheres ; 
Praise we the aleim — bright celebration ! 

Sabbath of Circles in Eden appears. 

Peace to gan-'Eden, mirror of heaven ! 

Throne of the Earth, and key to the Sky ; 
Flaming the lights of the mystical Seven, 

Circle of Circles ! pleroma ! draw nigh. 

THE PLEROMA. 

Anew the Circles soar the dazzling top 
Of this round world, and sing creations fair ; 
The seven stars concur ; and myriad lights 
Remote, the effigies of Deity — 
The central axis, and mysterious, 
Concircuiting of heaven. The Polar star, 
Unmov'd within the radiant wheel of space — 
The changeless seat of motion, yet the strength, 
And law of the celestial harmonies — 
Shall be Our Sabbath-Star, that tokeneth 
The equipoise and symmetry of worlds. 
While this remains the true Sabbatic Pole, 
Shall Circles reign in earthly Paradise ; 
Terrestrial Airs find holy tryst and peace ; 
The ample dome of blue move round and round, 
While lifts and lowers the all-enlight'ning Sun 
In shining circuit, semi-annual. 
The cosmic fervors blend in pageantries 
Auroral ; and flash athwart the gemm'd expanse ; 
Or, drifting, drape the empyrean arch 
With tholoformic curtains for the seat 
Of Man. 

O zenith joy ! 



THE CIRCLES. 117 

Sing, Circles, sing 
The blest estate of man imparadis'd ! 
Trace joyously the circuit of his home 
Subpolar ; tell where Limits lie, beyond 
Whose stakes and shadowy purlieus, ye affray 
To pass. 

O Satan ! Anarch of this star ! 
Soon to invade these happy bounds for work 
Unholy ! Know'st the Circle is divine ? 
And this «>yz^-garden is reserv'd for man's 
Divinity ? If Spirit (Nesamd) 
Depart, the triple Sacrament dissolves — 
Man's mundane soul, by thy delusions led, 
Haileth thee king, forsooth, beyond this isle ; 
Still know thy lordship is not then o'er man — 
The Image of his God, — but cosmic only ; 
And jarring with a world death-smitten round ; 
Nay, more, though apt to virtue, in his first 
Estate, corrupted, shall degrade thy rule 
Beneath the psychic and the animal. 
So shalt thou not thy rank in Earth enhance, 
But by unreason drag thine honors down : 
And deeper doom invoke upon thy soul ! 
Unfallen choirs appal, beholding thee, 
Scorning thy bright remember'd seat of heav'n ! 
Assuage thy mind ! Let reason lead ! Thy day 
Is compass'd still by hope, and wrath (a Father's), 
Is mingled ever with benevolence. 
O regent of this fair and favor'd star, 
Thou rulest by the aleim's clemency ; 
Though champion of rebellious dignities, 
Thou 'rt still possessor of a regal seat — 
(The Circles' realm, and man, a time exempt, 



T 1 8 THE PLEKOMA. 

The forfeit of thy pride). And these revert 

When thou hast cleans'd in Earth's pure fount. Ponder ! 

Hereto art thou assessor of this world ! 

The peerless power ! The voice of every Air 

Utter'd for thee : for thee the singing round 

Of seasons ; the bluey depths of light enshor'd 

With golden drift ; the brooks and waterfalls : 

The cavern's pearly depth ; the frescoed cliffs ; 

The variant tribes of bird and animal. 

All nect'rous blooms, and growths perennial. 

Go to ! O fallen Throne ! return, and view 

Thyself still splendid and so fair ! but nigh 

To death and woe unutterable. Cease ! 

Bearer of Light ! still apt and capable 

The highest good ! Nor rashly turn this light 

To darkness, verging on the fatal line ; 

Thy visage, pale with pain ; thy soul grown dark, 

Meantime thou hearkenest the unseen Voice, 

And gazest on the veil of burning mist 

Enveloping the pleroma. 

THE CIRCLES. 

We bring the Sabbath of aleim, and swing 

Our wreaths afar ; 
We wing the height of Paradise, and sing 

The sacred star. 
We gaze on the Ambrosial Tree ; and praise 

Its fragrant fruit ; 
We turn, and lo, the Golden Palm ! yet spurn 

Its cosmic root. 
We trace the quadrifurcate stream ; and lace 

The shady bowers, 



THE CIRCLES. 119 

We deck the dew-drop and the pearl ; and fleck 

The brilliant flowers. 
We list the meadow-madrigals, and tryst 

With bird and brook ; 
We charm the Eden denizens, nor harm 

By act or look. 
We are gan-Eden's genii, and bear 

The Protean wand ; 
We bless the bliss of innocence and press 

To fend their hand. 
Lo, lo, the Limits near the hedge ! We glow 

To warn the pair ; 
Around we curvet, wheel and curl, and sound 

The note, Beware ! 

THE MAN. 

Be this, fair Eve, a further link to bind 
Us to this star — our souls are set to music — 
That in this sweet and flow'ry glen, we hear 
Above us and around, the tuneful strains 
Of agencies unseen, but near ; nay of 
This very world, if seeming be the real. 
My fancy wakes in clearer light to-day, 
And far away the other, astral, life 
Appears afloat among the stars. And thee, 
O peerless one, with nameless dread I see 
This hour more soulful and sedate than e'er 
Before. Turn, turn thy spiritual gaze 
Upon the meads and look not up, enwrapt 
And dreamily against the azure blue. 
Earth is thy home ; wake, wake, to freer sense ! 
Return not thither whence thou cam'st, my joy ! 
My life ! Walk thou as I ; and float not as 



120 THE PLEROMA. 

A god or image soon to take thy flight, 
Forsaking Earth and me ! 

THE WOMAN. 

Wraith of my lord, thou soar'st so high 
I fain would follow, follow nigh ; 

Ah, wilt thou leave me on this star, 
Adrift, adrift, from thee so far ? 

My feet are held by heavy bands ; 

I cannot rise ; O take my heart ! 
There, where the Circles wave their hands, 

Together fly, nor ever part. 

THE MAN. 

Fair Eve, fear not, behold thy spouse is near, 
And on thy lips I press mine own in proof 
Most ardent. Lo, thy weird and wandering gaze, 
Still fills me with a shuddering awe. Again 
I cry : Awake to earth, to life, to me ! 

THE WOMAN. 

Hail, hail, my lord ! Impress me close ! 

Or this be Earth, or Heav'n be here ! 
Thou art my Heaven ; this Star I choose ; 

The Circles charm away my fear. 

THE MAN. 

Ye silv'ry rhythms that swim in song above 
The stately cedars of the garden ; and 
Here beckon us unto the Holy Mount 
Whose alabastrine dome up-rears its head 



THE CIRCLES. 121 

Amid the lightnings of the burning North, 

Are ye not truly a terrestrial band ? 

And ministers to guard our earthly life ? 

Ye lure so lovingly, methinks a weal 

Is set upon the Mount — a promise full 

Of cheer. Thither we turn forthwith our steps 

Ascending to the central tree sublime. 

THE CIRCLES. 

Hither, lord and lady, hither ! 

Climbing upward to the Shrine ; 
Higher, higher, we aspire, 

Circling o'er the tree divine. 

THE PLEROMA. 

The man hath now a firmer tread, his feet 
A natural echo as he walks the path 
Ascending hither : his fair consort, of things 
On earth less certain, lightly leans upon 
His breast, and glancing upward fains to join 
The winged discs that soar away amid 
The stars, to bear the spectral effigies 
Of souls inflesh'd, into the spirit world — 
The home of the Psychae. Thy seraph sense, 
Dawning upon this world corporeal — 
O virgin, purest product of the skies ; — 
Enclos'd in fragile clay ; imperfect mould 
For such perfection ; (by angels nam'd the Fair 
In Heaven, ere Adam call'd thee Fair, in Eden) — 
Among these emblems of the spirit-world, 
Shalt find the rarest solace, and a field 
Laid open wide to fancy. Hither rise ! 



122 THE PLEROMA. 

Life's well-spring bursts from out this ledge 
Whereon the tree immortal stands ; here shalt 
Thou quaff, and drinking, lo, a mineral 
Elixir of the rock shall course thy veins : 
A sense of Time and Space, of Gravity, 
And things terrestrial dawn in thy soul. 
The dual life in thee, at once, dissolve 
In unity ; the Image of Ourself 
Henceforth be circumscrib'd and fix'd in these 
Horizons visual. 

THE CIRCLES. 

She quaffs, lo, she quaffs of the fountain ; 

And thrills with the magical mead : 
She kisses the face of the Mountain, 

In joy that her senses are freed. 

THE ANGELS. 

Wing the height of Paradise ! 
Sing the heavenly choral thrice, 
As we wreathe the holy Hill : 
" Peace to Eden and good will 

Forever ! " 
Fairest mortals, many a day, 
Is the cherub's prayer, ye stay 
Falling from this Eden never. 

THE PLEROMA. 

Ye Names, record upon the Book of Days, 
Emergent Mind — offspring of Earth and Heav'n. 
For, here, beneath this vast world-plant awakes 
The free and individual consciousness. 



THE CIRCLES, 1 23 

Henceforth be Our epiphanies unto 

This star, in human shape, the Image of 

The image : and Our speech therewith devis'd, 

To stir in them the faculty divine ; 

The man, lead plainly forth by logic's road 

Unto the goal of Truth ; his partner fair, — 

More curious of the How and Why, (her mind 

Allur'd by semblances of the Unseen) — 

Less openly, while ripens inward strength. 

Three golden precepts learnt, Obedience 
And Faith, and Continence of Self, shall they, 
Advancing, safely tread the closer walks 
With God ; nor so imperil virtue by 
The eminence and favor they attain. 
To live is to obey ; herein is truth : 
Whoso hath learn'd this law, and learn'd it well, 
Hath in himself the key of the plerome : 
To him a thousand archives shall lie bare ; 
And Nature be a book of lum'nous type. 
Confiding, and in simple words, makes she 
To him the doubtful plain ; the arduous 
Seem easy ; solves for him the complicate ; 
A love of Truth awakes, a frenzy fine 
For studies and research original ; 
More pleasure giving than by ways direct 
Unto the goal to bring by nursery bands ; 
Whilst the untried and imitative mind 
The weaker grows the more it knows. 

Wherefore 
We name this stately Eden Plant " The Tree 
Of Precepts Three" — else call'd "The Tree of Good 
And Evil Conscience." Here to them we give 



124 THE PLEROMA. 

Our simple laws, making with man the first 
And Eden Covenant, while sinless, nor 
The good from evil knowing. 



THE NAMES. 

The Eden Covenant is made 

To-day, to-day, 
The seal is set, the Law is said 

To-day, to-day : 
The Pledge confirm'd, and triple vow'd, 
While fullest freedom is allow'd 

To man to-day. 

Obedience is Existence' tree, 
The test of his fidelity ; 
The fount of his felicity ; 
Hence be this Cedar of the Lord, 
The sacred symbol of his Word : 
The seat of man's confession heard 

For Aye, for Aye. 
Its fruit be Life, immortal Life 

For Aye, for Aye ; 

One only Plant excepted stands, 
The awful symbol of the Bands 

In man, in man. 
Self-continence the Earth commands, 
The fatal dualism spans, 
That hastens on the tragic strife 

In man, in man, 

For Aye, for Aye ! 



THE CIRCLES. 1 25 

THE MAN. 

From this high seat the landscape slopes afar 
Unto the blazing band that joins it to 
The heavens. " This be thy Paradise, far as 
The natural eye can trace the circling park 
From this World-Tree." Such is the oracle, 
Fair Eve : and thou beholdest now our home 
By Circles sung, bright as the fields of light. 

THE WOMAN. 

My lord, thou art my Band, my joy ! 

Fair is the earth, but fairer thou to me. 
Tend thou the garden ; my bliss without alloy 

Shall be to love and live for thee. 



THE CIRCLES. 

Lucifer ! Lucifer ! lord of the South ! 
Circles beware thee : 
Dread to declare thee. 
Limits and Bands 
Yield thy commands : 
Couriers tremble ; 
Fain would dissemble, 

And soften the words of thy mouth. 

Woe to thee Lucifer ! 

Daring the Deity, 

In thy temerity 

Pleroma scorning. 
Glow, glow, O ineffable One ! 
Shine with the myriad flash of the sun 



126 THE PLEROMA. 

Dazzle his eyes ! 

Dash with surprise ! 

Baffle his thought, 

Ere here is wrought 

Finitely infinite harm. 
Ho, ho, humanly innocent, decking your bowers ! 
Lo, lo, veiling the garden, the Eden night lowers ; 

Trial of continence, 

Test of obedience ; 

O for the recompense ! 

Hear ye the Circles' alarm ! 

THE PLEROMA. 

O God ! O Soul of the Eternal Man ! 
The CHRIST " jahveh," the PLEROMA of Light, 
Whose Name is Love, hath here the Crux 
Assum'd which he must humbly bear, until 
The passion do release it from His heart. 
Ah, Innocence ! to fend thee here, this were 
The simpler way : to smite the Tempter down ; 
To fence thee round with adamantine hills ; 
To set the Cherubim to guard thy ways : 
To bear thee, yea, upon Our Bosom as 
The shepherd, infant lambs and weak, when storms 
Break o'er the moors and threaten ill. For thee 
Our finite brother, do We grieve this hour ; 
While kindness leaves thine innocence expos'd, 
Lest harm more absolute to thee be done, 
Depriv'd of Virtue's proof, and Love's reprieve. 

LUCIFER. 

This day shall Lucifer be Lucifer ! 
This day regain his ancient seat and right 



THE CIRCLES. \2J 

As archon of this Star ; or in the act 
Perish. O in the breach, though Horror gape, 
The aleim's mighty thunders crack and rive, 
And hurl him down the deepest gulf of Hell ; 
In splendid pain should he exult defiant, 
And drink his woes as were they very sweets. 
Thou warn'st ! O servile ruler of the Sun ! 
Ha, ha, the hope of man now lord of Eden ! 
His soul be Satan's counsel, and henceforth 
Let " satan " be our name. From thee ask we 
No light, no mercy. For the Earth, in truth, 
Hath been for us a robust school (thank heaven !) 
Here feed we on substantial nourishment, 
And grow in stature, and in sinewy might. 
This mighty cherub, once yclept il The Star" 
On high, unfall'n, seemeth this hour another self ; 
To-day is Satan grown ; and less than this 
Round shield of earth his armor shall not be. 
I am the World ; I rule this plump, full star, 
Or wreck it damn'd. 



THE DEMONS. 

A world ajar ! — a creaking hinge ! 

A sigh, a tear, 

A pall, a bier ; 

O death, the demons doom ! 
The sky is sullen, 
The waves are swollen, 

And shadows the shores impinge. 
The surge is groaning, 
The woods are moaning, 

While storms walk in the gloom. 



128 THE PLEROMA. 

Offspring of Night ! 

We flee the light ; 

Our other brighter selves are not ; 

This is our part 

With ruthless heart 

To further Satan's damned plot. 

O'er magic's realm 

We wield the helm ; 

O'er land and sea 

Our sorcery. 
Most lost to Heav'n, thou hideous ghoul ! 
In Hell the legions curse thy soul ! 

LUCIFER (SATAN). 

Ye vivid mockeries, infernal wrack ! 
The atoms of a comminuted life ! 
Half conscious, half incarnate in the gall 
Of Earth ! Ye fawn, feeling too well the spell — 
Ha, ha, the fascinating spell that binds 
You to us. Ye 're no angels now ! but demons ! 
And demons are the thumbs and fingers of 
The Devil's hand. Ho, ho, demented powers ! 
Mock ye and curse your Prince for trifles ! Eh ? 
If in this quiet Sabbath of the world 
Ye rue your case ; let Iris ope her lips 
And speak it, for she may, the pending ruth, 
And pandemonium of Hell ; when Earth 
Is drunk and reeling ; and ye reel, and rave 
'Gainst God and us. These hours are halcyon, 
Then run and chaffer with the winds and waves ; 
And if enough of niceness 's in you still 
To whirl and gambol with terrestrial Airs, 
Go simulate the brothers of the Flora : 



THE CIRCLES. 1 29 

Nay, mingle with the Bands and Couriers ! 
Your prince will duly summon you, ere ye 
Are wed to Hymen : and, with further words 
Recite the issue of our call in Eden. 

Peace ; Peace ; — Ah, Satan perish ere he name 
This stupor so ! Ah, ravin of the soul ! 
This place is canker, noxious poison, to 
Our spirit ; the Circles' Eden is our Hell ! 
Up, up, thou soul of Lucifer ! the act 
Is on, and yon clear height shall be the stage. 

Ye Mights ! Ye worm ! A living coil of wit ! 
Thou art the very quick of subtilty ! 
An aeon have I searched this meagre star 
To find a husk to fit the exact kernel 
Of our soul ; and here upon this isle 
Of the congealed drop, call'd Paradise, 
I meet thee made to order for my use ! 
I '11 cabin in thee for a day and try 
Thy nature. 

Hail, ye Circles of the garden ! 
For Lucifer, your prince, draws nigh to whirl 
With you, and join his voice the winged choirs 
That wheel this awful dome. Let pseans ring, 
And magnify the Earth ! Sing cosmic Airs, 
Its myriad forms, its wealth of fruits and joys ! 
Its surcease for the soul ; its Aiden from 
All pain ! Lo now I eat and am indeed a god ! 
I drink and am divine. 

THE CIRCLES. 

O glories and powers, O whither art gone ? 
The Garden 's invaded by evil archon : 



130 THE PLEROMA. 

He is circled in might, 
Like an angel of light ; 
His form is enshrouded 
In lustre and clouded ; 
He seemeth aleim 
As he mounts the sublime 

Unto the Tree. 
Lo, the covenant Tree — 
The intoxicant Palm — 
Is a wonder to see, 
As it dazzles in flame : 
Flee, lady, flee ! 

THE WOMAN. 

The aureole lifts from the evergreen spire, 
Yet the Cosmical Tree is a pillar of fire ! 

As I slept 'neath the shade 
Of the mystical Tree ; 

As in weeping I prayed 
For the strange mystery 

Of life and this world to unfold 

To the gaze of my lord, 
A vision enwrapt me ; I loos'd me amaz'd, 
I am weak to recall, I am dizzy and daz'd, 
With its promise of good to my lord. 
'T was a circle of light that gleam'd on the sward, 
'T was the sheen of a spirit, O joy to my lord ! 
And it beckoned me hence to the Tree, 
And it beckons me now and lures me to go ; 
For my lord will I go ; for my lord doth it glow, 
And for him must I know 
If the vision be true, and from it accrue 
A boon of advantage for thee Adam, — 
A boon of advantage for thee. 



THE CIRCLES. 131 

SATAN (THE SERPENT). 

Thou doest well, fair Eve, to love thy lord 
More than thyself ; so were I thee, my dream 
Were he and he alone. Behold him there ! 
Celestial birth ! the potence of a god ! 
The quality divine that measures rank 
With archangels ! yet void of one, and that 
The nameless thing, which lacking, dooms the man 
To play and paddle in the trivial brooks 
Of truth, though mighty rivers, and the main, 
Far reach beyond horizons of bright wit : 
And with it sovereignty and an empire 
In Earth. Yea, each particular line, withal, 
Connotes his rank to be imperial. 
And thou, fair one, most pure, most heavenly art 
In countenance ; and aspirations hast 
For the heavenly world ; thy search for truth 
Hath op'd forthwith the way to reach your ears ; 
The wonder and the murmur of thy prayer 
Do plainly manifest how timely this, 
Our conference. Believe, for Adam, as 
For thee, his lov'd consort, I hither came, 
With glory dimm'd, lest I thee overawe 
With native splendidness — I come, fair Eve, 
To take this tree from out his way and thine ; — 
A mystic plant whose subtle property 
Is known to me alone ; whose cosmic fruit 
Elaborates the essence of the gods. 

Thou hast found courage to address a god ; 
And happily one who is pleased to feed 
Upon this fruit ambrosial ere he 
Communes with thee ; by how much more, therefore, 



132 THE PLEROMA. 

Shall man first feed upon this mystic fruit, 
Ere he commune with God ? 

Thou art forbidden ? 
Forbidden to be as gods ? to know the Truth ? 
To rise ? to pierce the heights ? to gaze on Heav'n ? 
And mix with deities ? Who hath forbidden ? 
'T is clear thou art mistak'n ! The Power whereof 
Thou speak'st (against Whom and Whose goodness do 
I naught inveigh) presides o'er yon tall spire 
Of evergreen, and knoweth well this tree 
Hath been assign'd another deity ; 
We are at one, fair lady, and fear not ! 
Thou could'st not eat by His authority, 
By mine, know well, with full immunity 
Thy lord and thou shalt pluck and satisfy 
Thy hunger. Thou surely shalt not die ! Believe ! 
Thou surely then shalt live, and be as gods, 
Knowing the good and ill, the sweet and bitter ; 
The harmless and the noxious. Yea, believe 
This mighty apparition of the Tree — 
Ourself, shall be thy keeper and thy warden. 
While thou and he possess so clearly Truth, 
Our proffer'd mediance for you withal 
Before the aleim of the central Tree, 
Were reckon'd a gratuity. 

Draw nigh ! 
These apples — err we ? — are most pleasant to 
Thine eyes ; and fill thy look of admiration. 
A wifely, laudable desire that he 
May know and nothing lack, filleth thy heart. 
Fear not ! Thou art entreated but to taste — 
A trivial test, forsooth, yet, if this fruit 
Our word shall contravene, eat thou no more, 



THE CIRCLES. 1 33 

But go as innocent as hither cam'st. 
So will we curse the tree and wither it ; 
Leaving forevermore its ashy stump 
To witness 'gainst its lying oracle. 

THE CIRCLES. 

The Rhythms falter, the Measures faint ; 
Hear, O pleroma, the Circles' plaint ! 

Eden all pensive 

Sighs, apprehensive 

Of imminent peril and pain. 
Descend, we implore Thee, and succor the Earth ; 
Rally the fugitive Couriers from mirth ! 

Gather the Bands, 

Prosper our wands, 

And bring us to ransom gan-Eden again. 

O soul of the Earth, the Circles alarm thee ! 
O nature relaxive, arouse ye and arm ye ! 
The archon infernal 
With guerdon supernal 

Assaults now thy crown, — the heavenly man. 
Ah, life of the world, 
By sin thou art hurl'd 

In travail and trouble unspeakably wan. 

THE WOMAN. 

For thee, for thee, I pluck and eat ! 
My world ! my life ! I will repeat : 

I eat for thee Adam ; 

I taste and eat for thee. 



134 THE PLEROMA. 

sweet to my lips is the fruit of the Palm Tree ; 
But sweeter by far is its taste to my soul ; 

1 ween, yes, I rise to the pleasures immortal ; 

My fancies haste onward to welcome the goal. 

A sprite, I would whirl with the amative Circles ; 

I am Beauty and Love ; I am fair as a dove ; 
The queen of my lord now I haste to embrace thee ; 

A goddess entreateth ! thou wilt not reprove ! 

THE CIRCLES. 

A sob, a groan, a face of fear ; 
A mournful muse, a ghastly leer ; 
A dual life, a dual death ; 
A sinful heart, a poison'd breath ; 
Ah, woe ! the world is dead. 
We weave and waver, we quake and quaver ; 
The deed is done, the Garden 's won ; 
Its lights are faded ; its glories shaded ; 
Ah, guilty soul, woe to t'hy bed ! 

THE MAN. 

The Oracle be prais'd ! Thee have I sought 
Afar, fair one, and now thou meet'st me here 
Aflush against the Cosmic Tree. Woe ! Woe ! 
We are undone ! The Circles' wand is broken ! 
Ah, sabbath of aleim ! Ah, cov'nant Tree ! 
"For thee," thou sayest, "for thee I taste the fruit." 

Alas ! delusive auguries ; mine eyes 
Outrun my fears — imagination faints ; 
Ah, radiant one ! thee have I faintly known 



THE CIRCLES. 1 35 

A stranger to these terrene walks ; or first 

I woo'd thee from the land of dreams, and wed 

Thee here — the Circles singing hymeneals 

Above the blooming bank ; nor have I dared 

To call thee mine, but Fair, a Dream, a bright 

Illusion of my soul — an airy sprite 

That floats betwixt this star and Heav'n. But now 

Thy radiant look and swelling breast dart pains 

Along my reins ; embrace me not ! I am 

At inward war ; yet stay ! mine only heav'n ! 

Art thou divine ? And doth a goddess flash 

And flame such splendors me before ? I am 

A man ! Thou, thou, O argent star ; thou dost 

Contemn the law ; dost eat ; O miracle ! 

And art as god ? Then am I dead to thee. 

Yet, angel presence, art thou what thou seem'st ? 

Thou thrillest me and makest rank indeed 

With appetite ! I rave or thou art still 

Bone of my bone and flesh of mine own flesh ! 

Hail thy embrace ! I swim, I bathe in bliss ! 

A bower with thee is a full paradise. 

Sweet, sweet, these lips erst moisten'd in the Palm 
Receive a rarer flavor from thine own ; 
Joy, joy, thou art of Earth, my consort fair ! 
Now wings my soul away unto the stars ; 
Love maketh gods ! Love the whole cup of life ! 

THE CIRCLES. 

Flown is the Nesama — image Divine, 
Circles in sorrow sob at Thy Shrine ; 

Where hast Thou gone, Infinite One ? 



36 THE PLEROMA. 

Dark is the night ; O for thy light ! 
Life of the human Thou dost illumine ; 
Bringing to Earth a heavenly Birth ; 
Filling its mould with Likeness three-fold 
Of Thine own Nesama — Image Divine. 

Flown is the Nesama — Image Divine, 
Circles in sorrow sob at Thy Shrine ; 

Sin with its sorrow wakes on the morrow : 
Death with his doom glares in the gloom ; 
Eden is rent ; our lustre is spent ; 
The Limits haste on ; the woman and man 
Have forfeited life, the covenant life 
Of Thine own Nesama — Image Divine. 

Flown is the Nesama — Image Divine, 
Circles in sorrow sob at Thy Shrine ; 

Pale at the Sentence ; plead for remittance ; 

Breathing Thy Spirit, help them to bear it ; 

Rescue the Garden ! sending Thy warden — 

Cherub and name, flying in flame ; 

Grant them Thy peace, sorrow's surcease — 
Redemption from Sin in man the Divine. 



CANTO II. 



THE LIMITS. 
THE ARGUMENT. 

The Limits divine their mission — Voices lament the Sabbath 
of Eden — The fretful, uneasy joys of the guilty pair — 
The doom of the aleim — Satan exulteth in the presence 
of his demons — The session of the Cherubim, and the 
herison of the Tree of Life — The man taketh farewell 
of the Eden Mount — Eve in travail thinketh to bring 
forth the pro?nised j ahveh — The illusions and terrors 
of the first parents — Satan predicts a speedy overthrow 
of the aleim worship — The pleroma withholdeth the 
purpose of the Creator, and warneth Satan of miscar- 
riage and deeper doom. 

the limits. 

Speed, ye Courier graces, faces 

Of the nether world dismaying ; grieving, 
Retrieving hours ye sportive spend. 
Limits claim the closure, osier 
And acantha ; willow-weed, — 

Scattering seed where our lines extend. 

Limits laugh at sorrow, borrow 
Care or ill of none ; spacing far, 
i37 



138 THE PLEROMA. 

Tracing far, shores beyond the sun ; 
Lucifer defraud not, applaud not, 
Telling link and line ; inclining, 
Divining whither rivers run. 

Eyes have we far-sighted, lighted 
From the torch prophetic ; glowing, 
Showing depths of human woe : 
Circles' solace, Bands reprief, relief 
So humanly devised ; blessed band ! 
Gently bind all hearts below. 

Voices of Eden. 

Voices of Eden, beautiful isle, 
Hiding in shadows and sobbing the while ; 
Oh for the Circles, where are ye gone ? 
Oh for the redolent rays of the sun ! 
Speed thee, O night ! 
Bring back the light ! 
Bring back the Sabbath to Paradise ! 

Chantries in ether, light-winged chorus ; 
Lo, in thy stead the gloom lowers o'er us ; 
Star of the Sabbath, centre of motion, 
Hidden and hush'd in the spray of the ocean, 
Speed thee, O star ! 
Gleaming afar, 
Bring back the Sabbath to Paradise ! 

List, ye trist voices, the burden of night ; 

Sadness forefending with promise of light ; 
Breaking all slowly, sending its star, 
Throwing a greeting of dawn from afar ; 



THE LIMITS. 139 

Speed thee, O night ! 
Bring back the light, 
Bring back the Sabbath to Paradise ! 

THE MAN. 

Oft and again, with blushing eyes, meet we 
Each other's look, fair Eve ; long since, down-sunk 
And hidden from the North, the sapient Sun 
Hath left us draped skies and gloomy paths : 
Yet fit they seem, and emblems of ourselves. 
Unblushing once in fullest sheen thou stood'st, 
Mine eyes afeast upon thy lovely form ; 
And drinking pleasure from unsullied springs ; 
But now with mantling cheek and bant'ring beck, 
We test commutual appetite, kindle, 
And prick the flushing sense, rousing ourselves 
To fresh desire and dalliance. In thee 
The thing ethereal, the seraph-glow 
Investing, that made me fear to call thee mine, 
This hast thou now forfeited ; but still 
Thy beauty is imperial to me, 
Nor stirs less jealously within my soul. 
I know thee solely, rarely of this star ! 
Thou canst not and thou shalt not cede thy right ! 

THE WOMAN. 

Love is forgetful, dalliance vain ; 

Ah for the Sabbath of Circles again ; 
Love is illusive, favors bring pain ; 

Ah for the Sabbath of Eden again ! 

Mystery holds me, fills me with dread ; 
Ah for the bliss that knoweth no sin ; 



I40 THE PLEROMA. 

Mystery cleaves me, parts me in twain ; 
Ah for the Sabbath of Eden again. 

THE MAN. 

Profound and painful is the mystery 
Inwrought in us and in the Garden cirque. 
Amaz'd and fretful is our mood ; scarce real 
The woeful work within, and less its issue. 
No more are heard the rhythmic discs in praise 
Of the pleroma ; nor those choirs that pass 
From star to star and teach to each its songs. 
No more the ambient glory o'er the Tree 
Immortal ; nor is deck'd the Covenant Tree 
In 'custom'd light. ■ O change, change, change ! 

Fair Eve, 
Asleep, I ventur'd near the fateful Top, 
And knew, or e'er my feet the height attain'd, 
A curse had fall'n upon the Earth, nay on 
The air itself, on tree and herb ; on fruits 
And flowers. The birds sang not as they were wont 
Nor came to feed from out my hand out-stretch'd 
With fresh op'd seeds. Alack, the pure white swan, 
That bow'd and kiss'd our lips upon the marge, 
Did scream at my approach, and fly away. 
The cosset fawn, child of our arms and heart, 
Did run away nor came upon my call. 
Soul, utter not all that thou saw'st and felt ! 
When chill'd and fearful turn'd the gloomy path, 
Shielding thyself in shadows of the pines, 
Until the doleful sounds died far away, 
And thou didst look once more upon thy spouse 
In dreams disturb'd. 



THE LIMITS. 141 

Then did out-flash those blades 
That bleed the North anew — auroral sprites — 
With bloody hairs and carmine trains, — that reek 
And shriek of blood, confusion's rout ; then crash 
And crush the Circles' throne. Now did awake 
My fairest bride, but not for my embrace ; 
For, startled, saw she first the crackling sky, 
Whilst ev'ry separate fibre of her being 
Shook ; then, turning half upon my view, 
My Fair, ev'n as the frighten'd fawn, did leap 
Into the leafy copse, and left a cry behind. 

THE WOMAN. 

Love is luring ; first assuring, 
Then entreating, and repeating 
Promises so fair ; 
Favors granted soon are haunted 
With Contrition and suspicion : 
Ah my sin ! my care ! 

THE MAN. 

Then curs'd I God, the apple and the Palm 
Whereon it grew. I curs'd the lying oracle ; 
And breath'd rash censure on — O Powers ! This world 
Hath lost its poise ; both wit and will are down, 
While passion driveth them now here, now there ; 
And gestures, unpremeditate, infract 
The rind, venting a sea of wrath to Heav'n. 
A moment more, myself were vow'd and lost, 
If not an angel voice had broke into 
My soul and sav'd me from myself. Blest Sprite ! 
I sing thy timely comfort to my breast ; 
Who did'st my rashness mollify and call'dst 



142 THE PLEROMA. 

The name of reason in to govern and 
Direct. Then saw I erst mine nakedness, 
And knew the action of my fairest Eve ; 
When softly calling to the bowers, my form 
Enzon'd with leaf of palm, I quickly found 
The fugitive conceal'd beneath a branch 
Of vines, and plaiting there a girdle for 
Her loins. 

I know not all, and fear to think 
By portents told around us ; yet I know 
And shudder as I think, while slowly lifts 
The mighty orb his banners from the wave, 
With day shall come the light, to search and see 
Our inmost heart, if loyal or if false. 
Oh, if this knocking heart delude me not, 
Yon rushing in the grove is of the God. 
Ah, screen us from the aleim of the Mount. 



The faces of aleim move in the Garden, 

Restoring the Circles and kindling their light : 

O MIGHTS Of PLEROMA 

Adorable Adonai ! 

Hail, Adam, thy Maker now calleth. 
" We fear'd thee, ye Mights ; and fled to the bowers ; 
We were naked and dreaded thy sight ! " 
" Thou hast pluck 'd of the Tree, 
And thy wife was with thee, 

Who from innocence speedily falleth." 

" The woman thou gav'st me did first eat the fruit : 
Her blushes and flushes confess to her shame ; 



THE FACES OF ALEIM. 143 

Ah the Covenant Tree, 
And its false Deity ! 

Oh despair is our meat evermore." 
"The Deity lur'd me and led me to eat : 
Oh the fruit was aglow in a beautiful flame ; 
But all quickly it fled, 
And turn'd me in dread, 

When a viper lay coil'd me before. 

" See aleim, there gloweth the venomed viper : 
Oh drive him far from us, and spare us his sting ! " 

" We have curs 'd the foul creature 

Inform and in feature j 

Thus abas 'd, he shall harm but thy heel. 
Still for sin thou art seiz'd with for epains of sorrow j 
And forthwith, in anguish to birth thou shalt bring, 

A race from thy womb, 

To avenge Satan's wrong 
And a Savior redeeming from ill. 

" O Adam, from thee, and in thee, be accurs'd 
The physical world that dissonant moans j 
Thou shalt sow and shalt reap, 
Many sad vigils keep 

While thistle and thorn grow afield. 
Nay, the dust of the ground 's already athirst, 
To swallow thy life, to cover thy bones ; 
Thou must fall and lie down, 
For Earth claims her own, 

And to aleim thy spirit must yield" 



144 THE PLEROMA. 

SATAN (TO THE DEMONS). 

Array ! ye vagrant voices, hist and learn ! 
Your wits grow worse, if ye presume on play, 
In hacking Eden's hedge, and seeding thorns ; 
These ears, extravagant in nice percepts, 
Have caught aside your maudlin mutterings ; 
Your jests and gibes ; your leers and loutish jeers ; 
Recess we gave you ; respite for awhile, 
To gambol with the airs and sleep amid 
The posies — ha ! — to sleep — to dream, to nest — 
With roses ; and like simplings all, ye smiled 
A sallow smile and hopt away, nor heard 
Our crack and banter cast behind. O Sport ! 
And ye were all like callow rooks thrust out 
Their nests ; a fuddled, fubsey nursery, 
In costume sprunt. Then Satan must laugh loud ; 
And by that laugh arous'd the sleeping serpent, 
Which rear'd forthwith its ruby-garnish'd crest ; 
(But now ye see, 't is needless that I tell) — 
This was our foil ; this gorgeous sheen our blind ; 
And while ye piqued, and prick'd yourselves again, 
And often, hurrying to the copse — the world 
Of Airs and flowers provok'd to endless laughters ; 
Meanwhile ye found congenial companies : 
Cajol'd Hominidse — proplasmic men — 
And had more joy inventing them new sports 
Than Satan hath corrupting Paradise. 

O demons, know our shaft hath done its work ; 
Man and his mate are game ; sin blights the Mount ; 
The Pair shall be thrust out of Paradise, 
And so the drama of the world. Hail Peers ! 



THE LIMITS. 145 

All quirks aside, speak we to you henceforth 

As sapient arms and legions of our realm. 

An hour's sport hath harm'd you naught, and ye 

Are fresh for duty ; and by somewhat wittier 

I ween, and kindlier too in mood toward us. 

Now Satan's throne exults itself on high, 

And rides astern the thunders round the world ; 

The full-grown continents are ours ; the seas 

Tumultuous dash to tip our laughters. Lo, — 

The smoking hills hold torch to our delusions ; 

The rugged hights conceal the seats of aleim, 

And make a false Olympus. The odds are ours ; 

The aleim falter now upon yon mount. 

Eyes, ears, fingers and feet, touch, taste, and scent, 

Use each, use all. Ye are our myriad self ; 

I am the World ; and ye our instruments. 

Mark now yon clefted crag ! There will we take 

A cautious overlook the issue of the fall. 

THE DOOM OF THE DEMONS. 

The Doom of the demons, Arrah ! Arrah ! 
On the verge of the Garden, Marah ! Marah ! 

Scattering seed, 

Willow and weed, 

Blowing the chaff 

Forth with a laugh, 

Eyeing askance 

Lucifer's lance, 
Sighing aside and scowling with pain. 

The dirge of the Devils, Arrah ! Arrah ! 

On the verge of the Garden, Marah ! Marah ! 



I46 THE PLEROMA. 

Our lustre is shorn, 
We are vex'd and forlorn ; 
The serpent 's our foil — 
A hideous coil, 
Soughing and sloughing .ts livid pale skin. 

The Day of the demons, Arrah ! Arrah ! 
Upon Eden's rim, Marah ! Marah ! 

For a day and its wrong — 

For a day, Oh, how long ! 

We are Lucifer's band ; 

We are ruth of his hand ; 
Haste, O Mights, destroy us ! or cover our sin ! 

THE LIMITS. 

Suffering engendereth, rendereth 
Drear the Garden ; fitful, 

Fateful, must the Limits fall ; 
Shudders chill and craven ; raven 
Of the nocent night, peering, 
Leering ghastly out of hell. 

Aleim of the Nameless ! aimless 
Do the Circles run ; hear them ! 
Cheer them ! call the Limits in ! 
Portents rise, impending, lending 
Maze to mystery ; cowing, 

Bowing, bears the world its sin. 

THE CHERUBIM. 

Rolling, reeling, 
Whirling, wheeling : 
Flashing, flaming ; 



THE LIMITS. 147 

Nathless naming Sin its banishment. 

Lurid lights, blazing blades, 

Eyes and faces myriad ; 

Terrors turning, 
Barriers burning, Cherubim are sent. 

Whirlwind blast 

Rushing past ; 

Awful sun ; 
Dread weapon of Divinity ! 

Woe to Eden, Circles' seat ! 

Woe to Adam and his mate ! 

Sobbing, sighing ; 

Fearful, flying 
Far, far, from the Ambrosial Tree. 

THE ALEIM OF PLEROMA. 

Thus cling and cluster to this Holy Mount 
The Mystic Circles, sorrowing and wan. 
Yon charioted Cherubim, awful of eyes, 
And liveried in chosen semblances 
Of sky and heath and field ; moving a maze 
Of circumventing blades and flames to mark 
Gan-TLden's boundaries, and guard the Tree 
Of Life, the Fount, and Sacred Shrine of God, — 
Do fret the inmost fervors of the Earth : 
And terrify the min'ral ministries. 
Yet be consol'd, O rhythmic notes, your songs 
Shall still rejoice the Soul of Lives ; while Man 
And beast and ev'ry living thing unite 
In blessing you. Sin and its shock hath thrown 
You from your seats, yet not forever ; lo, 



148 THE PLEROMA. 

The healing life already palpitates 

In Nature's womb ; the promised Seed takes root ; 

In time, due time, shall blossom and bring forth 

Its blest, immortal, fruit, by angels garner'd 

For celestial barns. Thence glorified, 

Pass ye to wear the Circles' cidaris, 

And tune the harps of the redeem'd on high — 

Through Spirit, Light, and Air, prophetic signs, 

The Trinity of names disclose, of God 

The Countenances, call'd " aleim " — the Sworn — 

That manifest to man the Ways of Deity. 

Hail, Limits ! ordinances of aleim, 
Yield to Our train ! These bright epiphanies 
Are hostages from heav'n to earth sent down : 
They are co-ordinate with you, and come 
To further the redemptive work in Earth. 

First we direct, and bend Our lines against 
The Sacred Hill, — session of Cherubim ; 
Next trace the sev'ral pathways of mankind, 
Divergent from the gate of Paradise. 
Whence greet this mighty embassage of Heav'n, 
And join your hands with Ours ; nor Satan fear ! 
In us shall Nature be set free again ; 
Retrieve the quality divine that Man 
Hath shortly forfeited by sin ; but not 
While Satan's sceptre lasts ; and this how long ? 
(O secret of the Eternal !) — not by 
Omnipotence (bare force), but flushing his 
Sad star with love ; until his kingdom lose 
Itself in being sav'd. O Lucifer, 
When Jesus is exalt above a world, 



THE LIMITS. I49 

Confess'd and nam'd its King, thenceforth shall seem 

Thy stool, a figment of the brain, phantom 

Of substance void, as also strength. Then shalt 

Thou wail and cry : " Lost ! " " Lost ! " and lash thyself 

With burning withes, falling eternally 

Into abysses of despair, with sobs 

And shrieks, environing thy madness ever. 

Limits, be ye compos'd ; for the Aleim 

Are now ensphered in tangible domain, 

Forestalling issue of the cause twixt God 

And Satan ; seeing health return to skies 

And seas, to seasons and to vital force ; 

While man, by sin lost to this pristine seat, 

Regains his Paradise in Jahveh lord. 

Essential spirit, light and flame, you hail 
The Aleim, — Presence palpable of God. 
In you pleroma sanctifies the soul 
Of Nature, peopling Earth with ministries 
Celestial. Welcome here unto your seats ! 
With fourfold visage, flashing forth far lights ; 
Roll, roll, thy lurid wheels ! and, trancing, turn 
Like scimeters to guard the way unto 
The Holy Mount ; thy winged banners spread, 
Soft fanning toward the South ; whence we Console 
The stricken pair and bear their prayers to Heav'n. 

THE LIMITS. 

Cheer, cheer, God draws near ! 
Jahveh 's car — the Cherubim — 
Hither bear the Great aleim ; 

Triple Face, trinal Name ; 



150 THE PLEROMA. 

Holy Father {Fire) — the face of flame ; 
Spirit Holy {Air) — the eagle's wing ; 
Son Divine (Man) — the holy thing ! 

THE MAN. 

Farewell, O sacred seat ! alas, farewell ! 
Thee view we nevermore ; fleeing the wrath 
Of Heav'n, that ploughs thy glens and groves. 
The awful Presence gone, his Aleim fill 
Our souls with mournful apprehensions, dark : 
Speak, speak, unto thy servant, once again ! 
O Nesama, Spirit of Lives ! Gone ! Gone ! 
Yon polar star, immortal, 'midst the sea 
Of airs, e'en thou dost fall as we go forth, 
And wander down the southward wending stream. 

THE WOMAN. 

I am heavy and must lie in ; 
I am weary and fain would weep ; 
I am mournful and rue my sin ; 
I am wakeful and cannot sleep. 
Words are idle and sobs are vain ; 
Pain is silent and hath no cry ; 
Promis'd Jahveh ! leap'st again ? 
Haste thy advent, for I die. 

THE MAN. 

Nay, Eve, these lights enfolding mock us not ; 
They rather brighten and console. Turn now 
Thine eyes and gaze once more the crimson north ! 
Among yon whirling zones of flame, behold 
Similitudes of Eagle, Lion, Ox, and Man f 



THE LIMITS. 151 

Such spectral emblems voice the Aleim's pledge 

To seraph ev'ry living thing in Earth. 

Turn, turn, fresh marvels ope upon our sight. 

The dread expansion lifts ; lo, on a Throne 

All sapphire gemm'd, pleroma of Aleim, 

The Soul of Worlds — the Fount of Personal Life — 

In shape of man, the image of ourselves ! 

This be our peace, fair Eve ; the Promise speaks ! 

He lives already in the potent Heavens ! 

" Jahveh ! " the promis'd " Seed " — Son of thy womb, 

Appeareth in mid firmament. 

THE WOMAN. 

He lives ; He comes ; salutes me from the Sky ! 
O bliss ! O anguish ! hold me or I die ! 

He comes ! "Jehovah" promis'd Lord ! 

Ah Sin, thou piercest with thy sword ! 

He breathes, He cries ; bless Heav'n, O sire ! 
Thy child ; my child — Jehovah Jireh ! 

Earth hath a Son, the Sky an Heir ! 

The Aleim hear and answer prayer. 

Prayer of the peaceful ; Covenant Name, 
Pay we devotion, incense ascending ; 

Proffers of peace ; proffers of blessing ; 

Comfort of grace, mercies expressing, 
Aleim of God, cover our shame ! 

Aleim of the Garden, Faces of God ! 

Rememb'ring promise, recompense sending ; 

Giver of gifts, joyful expression ! 

Naming thee Cain, sweetest possession ! 
Aleim of mercies ! child of Thy word ! 



152 THE PLEROMA. 

SATAN. 

Such be the corn and kernel of our work, 
O partners of our cause ; nor shall an hour 
Be squander'd here ; else bears our empire loss. 
Lo, yonder sits the female man ; and to 
Her breasts a squalling infant hangs ; the male 
And sire, heaps up, hard by, a rounded mound 
For sacrifice ; whilst overhead, dispread, 
As were they seraph hands reach'd down to help- 
Illusions of the spectral North — clove-lights, 
Feeling full soon the cogent Limits' blade ; 
Retainers of our realm and intimate, 
Chosen from out a throng of ancient mights 
To aid us in the general feud twixt Earth 
And Heav'n, Go to, the instant strikes ; or now, 
Or ne'er, this infant race shall lick the hand 
Of Lucifer. Leap to your seats and watch ! 
Perchance ye shall be wiser ere the dew ; 
And find that counterfeiting is the art 
Of devil and demon. 

To-day veil we 
The Earth in mist, and cloak the lights of el — 
To-day we croon beside the cradle of 
The world and pour hot tears into its soul. 
This be the finest, furbish'd art we use ; 
Fictitious cloud, fictitious light ; presto ! 
And hide ourself anon in Protean shapes : 
Aye, in a thousand ways amaze the pair ; 
Till overpower'd they fall in suppliance. 
That instant, Satan as a seraph sent, 
Shall kindly lift them up, and smooth their brows. 
Embrace the puling infant in our arms — 
And breathe into those tender lips a breath 



THE LIMITS. 153 

Infectious, with envy and crime's compound. 
Nay, they shall press us and implore of us 
A god, while fading from their presence as 
We came, and as mysterious. 

VOICES. 

The moan of the mother, the cry of the child ; 
The face of the father despairing and wild ; 

The Aleiin evade us ; 

The Circles upbraid us ; 

The Cherubim chide us, 

The Tree is denied us ; 
Oh, strange are the fancies that fly. 

Reproof for our folly, 

And mort melancholy ; 
Woe, woe, God hath left us to die ! 

Oh, list to the excellent voice of the stars ! 

Do well and thy countenance nothing e'er mars ; 

Do ill, and relenting 

With sincere repenting, 

Sin fleeth before thee ; 

The Aleim restore thee, 
And fend thee from possible ills ; 

Ye once were deceiv'd ; 

The loss is retriev'd ; 
The promise Jehovah fulfills. 

THE MAN. 

Thou dost most mightily amaze our minds, 
O spectral form ! If thou be friendly help 
Us to command our words, and sue for grace. 
Speak, awful apparition of the cloud ! 
Art Aleim, or the Spirit of the World ? 



154 THE PLEROMA. 

SATAN. 

Thou hast well said : the " Spirit of the World ! 
This is our proper title ; and we greet 
Extending kindness to the wanderer's thatch 
Set up in our domain ; good, only good, 
We bring. This world is at your bidding now. 
Sweet babe of heaven, thou slumberest fair upon 
Thy mother's breast ; alas, how innocent ! 
The Aleim of the Mount have cast thee forth ! 
The Spirit of the World brings timely aid ; 
And succoreth in dire distress. We come 
That ye may pine no more for food and cheer. 

THE MAN. 

O sworn ones ! great Aleim ! The World is kind 
Indeed, pouring sweet solace in our cup ; 
Forgive, if now we kneel and kiss his hand. 
Blest image of this star, we kneel and bless. 
Our babe awakes ! he smiles ! thy brightness lures ! 
O grant a blessing here upon the babe ! 
'T is well, he shall be holy to thy name ! 

Star, star of hope ! forsake us not ! Alack ! 
Great Aleim save us from the viper's sting ! 
It coils, it springs ! my child ! alas, my child ! 

THE WOMAN. 

Thou callest me " Eve," the mother of men ; 
Thou biddest me cheer, whilst stricken again ; 
Thou chidest my grief, — the mother of Cain, 
Adam my lord ! 



THE LIMITS. 155 

We worry and work ; we sorrow and sigh ; 
We worship in vain the Aleim on high ; 
The Powers forsake us ; and leave us to die, 
Adam my lord ! 

Once more I await the cry of a man — 
O babe of my woe, how weary and wan ; 
Thou 'rt frailty itself ; thy life is a span, 
Abel my child ! 

anguish of Earth ! O forepains of dread ! 
Ill omens repent me and shadow my bed ; 

1 faint as I think of the tears thou shalt shed, 
Abel my child ! 

SATAN. 

Ye build mine empire larger in your thoughts, 
To-day than yesterday, O comrades of 
Our realm. And well ; for trivial hopes give birth 
To trivial acts ; so Satan's soul can brook 
No pigmy-mites, and tomtit runts. Each one 
Of you, fully matured, shall like a Triton, 
In the least minnow's wake, strike out into 
The stream of your endeavors. 

Mark our words ! 
The Aleim forthwith surely weaken from 
This star ; the fugitives from Eden faint ; 
Our fraud of yesterday hath sore amazed 
And whelm'd their apperceptions. Of the twain, 
The female hath the hardlier lot ; and she 
In bitter anguish of a second child 
Doth call on phantom wisps to come to her 
Relief. Next heard we Cain, our foster-child, 



156 THE PLEROMA. 

Cry violently, and curse his birth-star as 

He saw his infant brother suckling at 

His mother's breasts, usurping his birthright. 

O here is straw for mortar friends. Lo, here 

Behind this tent of thatch there glows a fire 

That shall consume a race of men in Hell. 

Be this our clear and well-defin'd device : 

To simulate the true Aleitn j to draw 

Aside true worship by false lights ; infuse 

A dread of heaven and ev'ry mystery ; 

So foster fetishisms, and Nature cults ; 

Confound men's creeds and thus confuse their tongues 

Corrupt their faiths and so destroy their virtues ; 

Leading astray till knowledge of the True 

Aleim be lost ; then rule the absolute 

And undisputed Anarch of this World, — 

Prince not alone of Matter ; but of Mind. 

THE ALEIM OF PLEROMA. 

The Circles bend to larger privilege ; 
Henceforth the Limits trace a vastlier course ; 
The Bands and Couriers fly to expedite 
Their work in distant times. But first leads on 
The Age of false Aleim, delusion's choir ! 
Corruptions of the True, that captivate 
The sense, confuse the reason, and forthwith 
Infest the Garden-faith with thorny error. 

O Satan, now art thou full grown in sin ! 
And reck't no more the wages nor the woe 
Of thy designs. We vaunt not as thou dost ; 
Nor publish to the Angels Our designs 
And purposes. To warn thee of defeat, 



THE LIMITS. 157 

And final beggary, burning amidst 
With loathing of thyself, shall this deter ? 
No ; thou hast made thy God a liar ! thyself 
Delusion's head and throne, father of Lies, 
And prince of sin, Jehovah's deadly foe ! 

Go, mobilize thy minions ! Haste thy work ! 
Do ye prevent the Advent of Jahveh ? 
Nay rather shall from thee the race recoil 
And build anew the altars of Jahveh 
That was, and is, and cometh evermore. 



CANTO III. 

THE FALSE ALEIM. 
THE ARGUMENT. 

Confusion 's hour is announced by the Limits — Cain's im- 
pious rites the cause of much merri7nent among the 
demons, who incite his jealous mind on to the first act of 
fratricide — Cain dreadeth the Avenger, and lamenteth 
his banishment — Satan disguised as a deity, first, com- 
forteth Cain and his wife, in their flight from the face 
of Jahveh ; then, requireth of them a vow of fealty to his 
na?ne and altar — The descendants of Cain, mighty men, 
princes of the false Aleim, look upo?i the shepherdesses 
of Enos and allure them with fair promises to their 
cities — The sons of Enos niake the sacrificial oath of 
vengeance — The maidens intercede — The sons of Seth 
also corrupted by the enticements of idolatry — The ple- 
roma meditateth the approaching deluge — Satan from 
his pinnacle survey eth his possessions, andposeth to receive 
divine hotiors — He at otice perceiveth the omens of an ap- 
proaching cataclysm which shall destroy many of his las- 
civious incubi, and whelm the Garden of the World — 
The bruit of the demons — The Circles wing, sky-ward, 
singing the boat afloat, and the purging of their circum- 
polar seat — The Garden of god. 

the limits. 

Hear'st thou the bleating ewe, 
Calling her firstling ? 
Answers the rustling 

Pine : Ever, forever ! 
158 



THE FALSE ALEIM. 1 59 

Hear'st thou the mother's cry 
Seeking her Abel ? 
Answers the sable 

Pine : Ever, forever. 

This is confusion's hour, 
Demons pursuing ; 
Enmities brewing 

Crime, crimson forever. 

Babel of strife and tongues, 
yahveh resisting, 
Turning, and trysting 

False, falsely, forever ! 

SATAN. 

Drink up the excess of your joy, good spirits, 
And rest a little space ! Expand the orb 
Of your perceptions and give heed ! Behold, 
The crisis of this hour controls an age. 
Ye see a double canopy of cloud 
Upon the northern slope ; beneath are piles 
Of stone rudely arrang'd for sacrifice ; 
The herdsman, Abel, thither cometh with 
His bloody gift ; the elder, frowning Cain, 
Approacheth from mid-fields with fruits and roots : 
Nor heedeth he the instance of the group 
That chides his contumacious offering. 
Within the glowing maze, Jehovah hides 
His countenance ; and signifies by flames 
Shot down to fire the altar, favor, and 
Acceptance from his God. Hard by, ye see 
The harmless Cherubim that do instead 



l60 THE PLEROMA. 

Of scarecrows, warding off sinful mankind 

The nodding North, that slowly chills, and leaves 

Its memory in crystal effigy. 

Ye stand on tiptoe and do gape to view 
The ceremonial ! Bah, we had taught 
These wretches how to flay and roast ; to bake 
Their shew-bread, and present it well. See Cain ! 
With how much grace he lays his gift of fruit ! 
This niceness, mark, is in our foster-child. 
His mien majestic ; lordlier as his work. 
Thou tiller of the earth, tender of plants 
And vines ! Thee Satan greets with honest pride, 
And affluent desire to bring thee fame ; 
And build for thee in earth a lofty throne, 
Saluting thee vice-regent of the world : 
Yea, if thou earnest well thy chosen part 
This day ; insisting on the equal rank 
Of husbandry with shepherd thrift ; and nam'st 
The ancient Aleim as the patrons of 
The all-producing earth ; nor, callest once 
Upon Jahveh to bless thy fields and fruits ; 
Reproving novelty, by the elder faith ; 
So shalt thou win, O son of Elohim — 
Titanic, earliest Deity ; and Lucifer 
Stoopeth to kiss thy cheek, and place upon 
Thy brow the wreath of bay. 

Mark well, ye peers ; 
If from yon swelling fleece of cloud there dart 
A flame to light the fruited stones ! What time 
Mine own elected Cain turneth away 
In deadly anger from his fireless heap, 
Leap to the dizzy crags, and scream amain 



THE FALSE ALEJM. l6l 

With hellish glee ! cry for the Limits all ! 
Divide, divorce, destroy ! Satan is 
No suitor of the sugar'd shrines ; he feeds — 
He feeds on more substantial aliment : 
Forsooth on blood, even as the Jahveh 
That was, and is, and is to come — " To come " ! 
Bah, we could do the creed, vaticinate, 
And coddle nightly 'mong the cherub cots, 
But we have learn'd a trifle and a plus 
Beside ; found mainly threat'nings to be vain, 
Mere cracklings of the lower skies, while god 
In lofty self-complaisance stays his arm ; 
Although he lends his voice to novices. 

Ho, demons, spring in air, gyrate and shout ! 
Now let Earth crack, and oceans vomit belch ! 
The braver half of man is ours, is ours ! 
Cain hath defied Jahveh ! Henceforth claim we 
Our son : the false Aleim blaze in the skies — 
In Abel shall Jehovah worship die ! 

THE DEMONS. 

Flare, flare, ye terrene flames ! 
We give you sacred names ; 

We lure to you mankind, 

To worship you enshrin'd ; 
O fair, illusive lights ? 

He turns, the elder turns ; 
Within him anger burns ; 

We feed his wrath ; 

W r e smooth his path ; 

Descend illusive lights ! 



1 62 THE PLEROMA. 

Shriek — shriek, ye shatter'd airs, 
Whilst bloody vengeance stares 

Red-handed at its deed ; 

Now Satan drink thy mead ! 
Speed on, illusive lights ! 

A VOICE. 

Crime followeth sin in a round ; 
The Circle describeth its bound ; 

From sire to son, and son to sire, 
It traveleth sure, and traveleth dire ; 
The evening gloweth ; 
The zephyr bloweth, 

And wingeth along the lea ; 
The forest groaneth ; 
The green sward moaneth 
The awful tragedy. 

CAIN. 

The bloods of my brother are crying to Heav'n against 

me : 
I am cursed already, already in soul as in body ; 
I have chosen my lot, O so desert and darkly ; 
A vagabond wanderer, I, homeless and banish'd. 
Jahveh, thy curse is too great for my spirit to carry ; 
I am faint and already the avenger of blood is upon me. 
The seven-fold winds do not carry away all my groan- 

ings ; 
Nor the Cherubim bear half the prayers I have offer'd. 
Ah, the sentence is pass'd ; but protect, O protect Thou 

thy banish'd. 



THE FALSE ALEIM. 1 63 

Blest art Thou O Jahveh! this sign shall defend from 

the slayer ; 
In Nod, in the land of my flight, when alone and de- 
fenceless. 
Farewell to the face of the Lord that pleadeth his mercies 

before me ; 
Farewell to the altars of Aleim, the mighty protectors ; 
Farewell to my stricken disconsolate parents, whose faces 
Their first-born shall never again behold in the body ; 
Farewell to my kindred that seed all the coasts of the 

garden ; 
And ye pleasant fields, and ye forests that woo'd me to 

till you ; 
My heart leave I here in your bosom engrafted forever ; 
And soul-less and sighing your keeper forsaketh these 

gardens 
To go to the South, to the land that shall henceforth 

receive me. 



A VOICE. 

The hand of the homicide red with its murder ; 
Red with the sign that Jehovah put on it ; 
Ghastly in mien with shiver and shudder — 
Reacheth to take now the hand of a sister ; 
Sister and wife, the wanderer's only companion ; 
Facing the East, and its searchless savannas — 
Facing the gloom of the thicket and forest ; 
Aw'd by the cry of the jackal and note of raven ; 
Chasten'd and broken in spirit, ready to turn back ; 
Cursed, and cannot, cannot retrieve though he will to ; 
Urg'd on by awful compulsion, yet doth he know not 
Whither, save only it be from the Face of Jehovah. 



164 THE PLEROMA. 

SATAN. 

Now are ye plump, O imps ! now are ye gorg'd 
With nature's sap ; O we can trust your wits 
Henceforth as spirits of the world ; and give 
You larger privilege ; withdraw the leash ; 
Adorn with honors where aforetime we 
Have check'd and hamper'd. 

We ween that each and all 
Do seize the earnest of the hour, and haste 
Counsel to expedite, our cause advance 
Against the coming one J^ahveh, whose name 
Already lisp'd by Adam's seed, aloof 
The cherub-seat, forbodes our final ruin ; 
If not crush'd out and overborne by Cain 
And his descendants that shall disavow 
This novel J^ahveh faith, appealing to 
The ancienter Aleim, fire, light, and air, 
The emblems of the mighty Mights so mix'd 
Up with our province, that we weave them in 
The texture of terrestrial things and clothe 
In subtle charms and colors. 

Swear fealty ! 
And once again obeisance to your Prince ! 
Leap now unto your tasks, harry and hide ; 
Play true or false, and double deal as best 
Befits the end ; beset with ambushments 
The seed of Adam ; lure and captivate 
Their wills, winning to wanton worships. Nor 
Affray your souls at blood and havockry ; 
The end merits the means that gain it best. 
Know ye that Satan loves nor sin nor ill ; 
He loveth rule and empire. So he must — 
Perforce of Jatis essay to crush his head — 



THE FALSE ALEIM. 1 65 

Do injury to myriads of souls 

He 'd sooner leave untouched ; hence ye shall reck 

No costs ; your prince counts none, if Jahveh rule 

Retires, and nature takes a firmer hold 

Upon the heart of man. Was Lucifer s 

This star j is now, and shall be j else, falling 

The World falls too. 

CAIN. 

Ye Mights of the Mount, once effulgent in flame and in 

ether : 
The solace and song of my parents ere they were ban- 

ish'd ; 
Earliest heard on the lips of my mother kneeling to 

Heav'n ; 
Teaching me too how to worship, bowing my knee down 

beside her. 
Ah, long have ye hidden your face from the eyes of your 

children, 
Loosing the bonds that constrain'd them purely in 

homage ; 
Chide me not, crush'd and forsaken, if I appeal to thy 

mercy ; 
Nay, though I free here my soul of its burden so heavy ! 
Recite in thine ears the wrath of jfehovah upon me ; 
The zeal that possess'd me to prop up thy worship. 
O Names of Aleim, the Mighty, slurr'd by my brothers ; 
Chiefly by Abel, my junior, vaulting the priesthood ; 
Bringing in novelties, evils that were to be silenc'd. 
Rashly strove I to rescue the ancient religion : 
Could not, save on Earth's shrine his blood should be 

offer'd. 
Spirit of Earth, Soul of the World and its marvels, 



1 66 THE PLEROMA. 

Pardon my crime ! Spirit of Light and of Ether, 
Succor thy son ! O retrieve from the curse of Jehovah ! 
Spirit of earth, god of the world, rescue the wanderer ! 

SATAN. 

Hail, foster son, firm in maternal faith ! 
The Aleini bring cheer and respite to thy lot ; 
Condone thy well-meant sin ; remove this load 
Of care ; repair, and speedily, thy loss. 
Know ye, yon lights that twinkle in the sky 
Are we ; — the stars bid Cain good speed upon 
His way. The winds that wing from ev'ry sea 
Are we ; — the airs shall be thy couriers 
To bring thee on thy course. Yon fires that shine 
Upon the mount are we, to light thy way ; 
The all-embracing Ether spreads her tent 
For thee ; the glades rejoice to welcome thee. 
The sprites that dwell in cleft and croft leap up 
To greet the favor'd one among the sons 
Of men, first born to Adam, and a prince 
Of a new race. Thou shalt not fall and die ; 
But from thy loins shall spring a mighty birth 
Of valiant men, skilful in arts, builders 
Of cities ; renown'd in war and chase throughout 
The Earth, a godlike race of Nephilim, 
Princes of El, brave sons of the Aleim. 
Still thou art man ; and man unsworn is as 
The fickle breeze ; 't is fit we claim of thee 
A triple vow of fealty, and homage : 
Thou dost herein for thee and for thy seed 
Avouch allegiance to the Trinity 
Of Fire, Flame, and Ether, divinities 



THE FALSE ALEIM. 1 67 

Of thy maternal love ; to these erect 
Thine altars, paying thereupon thy vows 
Unto the triple lights of heaven and earth. 

CAIN. 

Mark'st thou, my sister, the sheen of the sov'ran Lights ? 
Hearst thou, my sister, the vows and the pledges here 

spoken ? 
Praise the aleim ! Cain shall yet live and be prosper'd ; 
See, for the sky is incarnadine now with his presence ! 
God moves in mighty resplendence forth on our pathway ; 
Passing upward, glorifies he all the mountain ! 
Marvel, look, he changes in fashion ! lo, as a man, 
Splendidly awful ! See, how he strides o'er the summit ! 
Beckoning, beckoning, — weird, — strange, — horrible — 

face ! 

"What of these portents ? " Sister, thy words are their 

answer ; 
Portents in truth, known but to God and him only ; 
Farewell, thou glow of the Gan-Eden mountain ; 
Dimly, alas, seen in the background ; farther, — 
Knowing not whither, save from the face of Jehovah. 

THE SONS OF ALEIM. 

Ask ye our worship, beautiful daughters of Enos — 
Enos, restorer of altars ? 

Ask ye our birthplace and kindred fairest of maidens — 
Daughters of Mahalaleel, splendor of El? 
Heed then our song of Havilah ! 

Learn of the children of Cain ; Enoch and Lamech ; 
Learn of their sons and their fortunes : 



1 68 THE PLEROMA. 

Learn of the Names that we worship building high tem- 
ples ; 
Call'd from the triad of Gods that defend us : 
Hear of the fabulous riches quarried and coined : 
Cities, close built, castles and gardens sweet-scented : 
Hear of great ladies, Adah and Zillah, unenvied, 
Fostering arts in the children rear'd in their chambers ; 
Jubal, the glory of music, king of the harp and the 

organ :i : 
Tubal the glory of art, prince of the workers in metals ; 
Thence of Naamah the pleasant, queen of the maidens, 
Chosen of Aleim to offer incense before them. 

THE DAUGHTERS OF ENOS. 

O princes of £/, our cousins most valiant ; 

The daughters of Jahveh revere and entreat ; 
Ye will not go by ; but tarry, refresh you, 

The while we shall summon our brothers to meat ! 

THE SONS OF ALEIM. 

Ours is a mission of daring performance, 
Loveliest daughters of Seth ; 
Ours is a bold and incautious adventure 
Beautiful maids of Jahveh ! 
Hear we anew the call of our Aleim : 
" Hasten, else reckon no more on our altars ; 
Bring with thee virgins, wives for my nobles ; 
Promise the pastoral daughters of yahveh, 
Music and festival pastimes to surfeit ; 
Eye hath not seen of these shepherds ; 
Ear hath not heard of these nomads, 
Half of the wonders of Nod, land of the Pison— 
Rich in its gold, bdellium, and onyx." 



THE FALSE ALEIM. 1 69 

THE SONS OF EN0S. 

Canaan thy child, vows by thine altars, O Enos ; 
Swears to avenge the foul rape of the princes ! 
Nephilim, curs'd with a curse, lost to Jehovah. 
Mahalaleel, splendor of God, grandson, is with us ; 
Father of Jared, father of Enoch, the teacher ; 
Thence of Methuselah, son of the javelin ; 
These all, and princes puissant, sacred to Jahveh, 
Offer our seven-fold victims whilst thou implorest, 
Suppliant sire, the Lord of the Highest to aid us. 
Swift are these griffins and dread in their havoc ; 
Giants, wild gibborim, got by the help of the demons ; 
Demi-gods, monsters, clad in the splendors of angels ; 
Sold under sin and adepts of ev'ry pollution : 
Lying with beasts, ploughing with dames most infernal ; 
Plunderers damn'd, that glut their desire on the maidens. 
Help, O Most Highest ! Save from the " sons of aleim /" 
Falsely named faces of Satan, Spirit of Evil ! 

THE CAPTIVE WOMEN. 

Cease from this bloodshed, O fathers ! O brothers ! 

Respite an hour, while the maidens, now mothers ; 

Happy and rich in the land of Havilah, 

Favor'd of great ones, Adah, and Zillah, 

Bid in their name and the Aleim above us ; 

Visit our hearths if yet ye do love us ; 

See how the princes have dealt with thy daughters ; 

Then if ye can, renew ye the slaughters ! 

PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Behold the sons of Seth also have gone the way of Cain : 
Following the voices of the captive women ; 
Now is all flesh corrupt ; 



170 THE PLEROMA. 

And the imaginations of man's heart evil, evil contin- 
ually. 
The earth is fill'd with the violence of the mighty : 
And it repenteth Jehovah that he hath made man. 
And though my spirit shall not strive in them forever, 
Yet their day shall be one hundred and twenty years — 
Then shall the end of all flesh come before my face. 
The sons of the aleim, the seed of Cain, shall perish ; 
The Nephilim shall go down in the deluge of waters. 
Likewise all the seed of Seth, save Noah. 
He and his household, being warn'd, shall build an ark 
To keep alive of ev'ry living thing, both male and female ; 
For I will cause the reservoirs to burst from under : 
And I will open the windows of heaven ; 
The seas shall cover the face of my holy mountain, 
To hide it forever from a perverse people. 
I, Jahveh, have spoken and will perform it ; 

SATAN. 

Enthron'd upon this purpling pinnacle, 
That pours its lustre in Havilah's lap, 
What time the Dawn, loos'd from the Sun's embrace 
Speeds from his couch, and crimsons all the world 
With wanton flushes, softly veil'd ; or, when 
Reluctant twilight, of the Earth enamor'd, 
Woo'd by the hills and heaths, looks back and sighs, 
Throwing a dower of smiles on Enos' daughters, 
Takes Satan here his lofty seat and gives 
His suppliants attendance, that offer him 
The choicest of their tilth, both corn and fruit ; 
Circling in bands with grateful praise and prayer, 
To the Aleim of Airs omniscient, that own 
This summit for their shrine. 



THE FALSE ALEIM. \J\ 

• This land hath peace. 
Where Death withdrew, comes mirth and revel in : 
The name of jah is heard no more upon 
The lips of men. Jahveh, Jahveh is fall'n ! 
In glory excellent dwell we alone ; 
O most enchanted star ! and more, that now 
The lecherous demons drub not our stool. 
Supreme ! Repeat that word, O soul, " Supreme ! " 
The seed of Seth hath wholly gone the way 
Of Cain, save Noah ; and he is mad, they say, 
And cobbles up an awkward coffin for 
His bones. Him will I turn my wits upon 
And edge the churlish spite I hear below. 
Ho, devils ! bulging with your message, speak ! 
Zounds ! In the holy sacred of my peace, 
There troopeth frenzied horrors, brain bedizzen'd ! 
Aback, we will not be disturb'd. Do we ? 
Doth Lucifer build castles for his pride, 
To have them crush'd and crumbled in a trice ? 
Speak ! Speak ! ye fiends, what palsies hold you so ? 
Lo all the world (nay Satan is the World) : 
Lo all the land spews out its venom'd swarm ! 
Ye gods, behold the sight ! A puling poulp 
Of pestilential death wallows the hill ; 
A sickly curse hath lighted on my legions. 
Now dare we speak the truth, confess it loud ; 
We weep not for this carnal race of demons ; 
O wens and blotches ! had we the Soma 
Think ye we 'd give it you ? Nay, die the death ! 

Such ugly rumors spawn'd upon our ears, 
Almost are we persuaded of the fact, 
This God-breath'd Noah is a vehicle 



172 THE PLEROMA. 

Of Jahveh's curse, that 's imminent, whereof 
'T is evident this deathly sickness of 
Our legions yielded further countenance. 

The seven chiefs concur in their report : 
The ark is finished ; its hoary architect, 
His sons him aiding, stores within, a raft 
Of wares and victuals for man and beast. 
It is already moot among sane men, 
That the Almighty 'venging on mankind 
For being human, loving mother Earth 
Most naturally, will whelm her children all ; 
A sea of fire and waters disembogu'd 
The bowels of the Earth : so shall this fair 
And bastion'd basin of the North engulf'd, 
Upbear a raft of miserable deaths, 
At once of men and brutes and creeping things ; 
Revolting to all eyes, behind and huge, 
Shall drift the tabid husks of serpents vile, 
Fouling the main afar — most horrible. 
So curseth Jahveh what He cannot rule ! 
Aha, we have Jahveh a pupil apt ! 

First in the mighty anger of our soul 
Sware we to fend this circum-polar land 
Against the Almight's curse ; when wiser thoughts 
At once came in to show a better way ; 
Then clearly knew we how events hereto 
The merest preface are, the prologue of 
The tragedy begun in Heav'n — a feud 
Provok'd by God's most arbitrary rule ; 
Transferr'd to Earth, with man the common spoil. 
Did Lucifer laugh now he laughs too soon, 
Did Lucifer now bare his might, then were 



THE FALSE ALEIM. 1 73 

His majesty from deeper plans diffract. 

O trivial effort made to 'stablish here 

Thy throne and altar, Jahveh ! We scorn 

To breeze our banners, and air our paeans ; 

This is fictitious war ; Thy might 's withheld ! 

In Noah and his sons beyond the flood, 

The fallen worship shall take root again, 

With faithful men, though few to build thy shrines — 

A trifid branch, fore-caution'd to respect. 

Hence pass we on before and void this place ; 

(For work is our sole joy ; work done revolts.) 

Descending Southward, view we other realms 

Beyond the Sun. So, hither pursuivant, 

Ye chosen chiefs, and sharers of our rule 

In Earth, follow, tracing future empire. 

If hitherto we meted you no bounds, 

Conferr'd no title and domain imperial, — 

Suffice, the play was barely on ; our will 

Hath been in time to portion you the world ; 

Divide with you the habitable globe, 

Ere long to be repeopled — the deluge past — 

Enacting thenceforth further scenes of Earth's 

Great drama. Cede this filthy coop at once 

To Jahveh's bolts and fires revengeful. 

The Bruit of Demons wrack'd and curs'd 
In meshes caught they cannot burst ; 
Lustful incubi, loving clay, 
Vampire gnomes of demonry ; 
Harpy, fury, 
Troll and bogey , 
Effreet, afrite, 
Unclean spirit, 



174 THE PLEROMA. 

Tasting fumes of the bottomless pit, 
Betray'd of Satan and no respite. 

THE LIMITS. 

Ho, ho, doth Satan go ? 
Doth he quit this polar world for aye ? 

Do the aleim follow with the sun ? 

Do they ogle on the fraud begun ? 
Answer, O Jahveh, we pray ! 

Ho, ho, doth Satan go ? 

Doth he ravish the world, then forsake ? 
Doth he leave his helpless legionries, 
And send no aid in their agonies ? 

The curse of Jahveh overtake ! 

THE CIRCLES. 

Twirl, twirl, sisters, twirl ! 
Your labara unfurl ; 

Above the wales, 

Abreast the gales, 

Let Jahveh 's name be sung. 

Chant, sisters, chant ! 
The swaying Earth aslant, 

Scorneth the sun ; 

Warneth each one 

The aleim's knell hath rung. 

Pale, sisters, pale ! 
Harken the war and wail ! 

While Noah's boat 

Goeth afloat 

And rides the embastion'd flood : 



THE FALSE ALEIM. 1 75 

Flee, sisters, flee ! 

The North becomes a sea ; 

Return to the stars, 

On your luminous cars, 

And stay the decree of the Lord. 

GAIA (THE EARTH). 

Thou art wroth, O Sun ! 

As a moth I am brush'd from thy light. 
I am quite undone ; 

I am cold, for thy face is hid from sight. 
Thou art cruel, O Sun ; 

And the Earth expires in sobs and tears ; 
She is faint and falls ; 

And her offspring is whelm'd in fears — 
She is faint and falls. 
My heart is quench'd, O Sun ! 

The floods rush from my rending side ; 
The North reverts, O Sun ; 

My pray'r is rigidly denied — 
His glory sinks beneath the sea. 

The heavens are black, 

Alack, 
Thou wilt come no more to comfort me ; 

Nor ever learn how I mourn'd and wept 
Ere I broke in death, 

And thy children with me, crush'd and swept 
From my breast at a breath. 

PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Again these reeking mounts and steppes uprear 
Their tawny backs above the 'suaging waves. 
Alone the storied North is seen no more : 



176 THE PLEROMA. 

Clad for his burial in icy robes ; 
Ensconc'd from human eyes forever there. 
The ark hath stoutly stood the mighty shock, 
Whilst engines, dynamitic, clove the rocks 
And rent in two the continents ; nor struck 
The frowning coping to the masonry 
Of adamant that zoned the sin-curs'd shores ; — 
Breasting full long the inrush of the waters, 
Borne southward by the steady drift that swept 
The universal sea, — she rests at length 
On Ararat, to Jahveh sacred ground 
And high in Kurdistan. 

The dove that yester 
Brought the olive leaf to Noah, to-day 
Returneth not ; and Noah hath unloos'd 
The covering to mark the waters are 
Abated from the earth. 

God's voice now heard, 
He goeth forth, himself and wife and sons, 
Shem, Ham, and Japhet three, and wives with them : 
Next leadeth forth, or looseth from their stalls, 
The greater and the lesser tribes of beasts 
And bird indigenous the pristine North, 
Which earliest lay profuse in loveliness ; — 
Enchanted land of fruits and flowers, luring 
Into its lap all brilliant wings, else call'd 
The Birds of Paradise ; — the pictured swarm 
Of mimicry minute, the insect lives 
That breathe the nard and nectarous airs and kiss 
The argent blooming flowers, which gave more sweet 
To lisping bee that gather'd honey there, 
Than elsewhere scient skill shall e'er distill : 
Whelm'd this fair Omphalos of Earth, and all 



THE FALSE ALEIM. IJJ 

Its charms fast-lock'd in ice : revers'd the sun, 
And doubly chill'd in coldest space, remote 
His tropic fires ; not guiltless, not unwarn'd. 

Sole remnant of the seed of Seth transplant 
From parts engulf'd, to stock once more the world : 
Eight righteous souls, remote their northern home ; 
Admiring the Asian plateaus wide ; 
Eight j KYWYtt-wor shippers, God's holiness 
And unity profoundly sens'd, provide 
For the supreme and only name in heaven, 
A pleasant sacrifice, in Noah their sire, 
And priest : implanting these far-stretching slopes 
A pure and spiritual faith. 

Receive We now 
The odor of acceptable prayer and praise. 
Fear not, Noah ! For while the Earth remains, 
Seedtime and harvest-home, the winter's cold 
And summer's heat, nor day nor night shall fail. 
For jahveh curseth not again the earth for sin. 
Lo, yonder iris of the South that bows 
In sparkling symmetry upon the mounts — 
See how it stands upon the pillars of 
The world, fair symbol of jah's covenant, 
Until pleroma come. 



CANTO IV. 

THE BABEL. 
THE ARGUMENT. 

The Bands lament the Limits hour — Ham's impiety and 
Canaan s curse — The table of nations is called — The 
Couriers find the faultless man, and sing the glory of 
the Caucasus — The different races are viewed, with char- 
acteristic lore given — Primitive men and natural reli- 
gions — The Circles find Eden symbols everywhere — The 
yEons trace in particular the fortunes of the Jahvites ; 
of the Shemite race — The magnificence of the Nim- 
roud Dynasty ; and the false Aleim — The seat of 
Satan overthrown, with confusion of tongues. 

THE BANDS. 

Limits strive to sever ; scatter through all lands ; 
Rescue us jehovah, ward Thy chosen Bands : 
Weak are we, and wander, if Thou bind us not ; 
Shifted soon and shattered, if Thou wind us not ; 

Fulness of the Godhead, Spirit from above ; 

Potence of the highest, 

Essence of his love ; 

God of Seth and Noah — 

Ancient name eloah, 

Cov'nant name jehovah ; 

Band of Bands, Messiah ! Humbly we implore. 
178 



THE BABEL. 1 79 

Tarry not jahveh ! show Thy matchless grace ! 
Seers inspire, intrinsic to the human race ; 

Lo, in trope and symbol, predicate the day- 
Promis'd Seed and Savior, incarnate jahveh 

God of Seth and Noah — 

Ancient name eloah ; 

Cov'nant name jehovah, lowly we adore. 

Ah, what omens fray us ! auguries of ill ; 

Blessing turns to cursing ; oaths coerce the will ; 

Brothers shunt and alien, disparate diverge ; 

Climes and countries variant, further changes urge : 

Nature lures, or threatens ; trivial gifts atone ; 

Deities are worshipped, hewn of wood or stone. 

Fetishisms and demon-cults terrify mankind ; 

Pantheons and Babeldoms ev'rywhere we find ; 
God of Seth and Noah- 
Ancient name eloah ; 
Cov'nant name jehovah — 
Lord of Lords, pleroma ! praise we evermore ! 

VOICES. 

Awake ! awake ! from thy wine ; 
Thy sleep is profaned ; 
Thy slumber is stained ; 
Thy nakedness cries to the vine ; 
Vail me, O vine, in thy bower ! 
Hide thou my shame in this hour ! 

Ah Sin, thou art here in the laughter and leer, 

And the sensual glance of Canaan's sire ; 

Thou dost paint so a trace, and screen'st not thy face ; 

For the mock of the son is the crime ye inspire. 



180 THE PLEROMA, 



NOAH. 



Canaan is curst in Ham ! 

A servant shall he be unto his brethren ; 
Jahveh is blest in Shem : 
Japheth shall el persuade, 
In tents of Shem array'd ; 

While Canaan, curst, shall serve his brethren. 

THE .EONS. 

Number ye, name ye, O Sisters, the children of japheth ! 

To whom jahveh giveth bounds and rich blessings ; 
Sing of their fortunes in countries far distant ; 

Tell of traditions and myths they do cherish. 

Gomer — the sire of the Cimri — clinging the shores of the 
North, 
Warlike Cimmerians threading Hercynian forests ; 
Nomads of Askenaz ranging the steppes of high 

Asia, — 
Rephsean caves, — the home where the North-wind was 

cradled : 
Also the house of Torgona, Caucas'an races, all 
Aryan. 
Magog — the sire of the Scythians, terrible, numberless 
Scythians : 
Barbarous princes of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal ; 
Arm'd with the bow and mounted as horsemen ; 
Curving the sides of the North, cruel, rapacious. 
Madai — the sire of the Medes, pastoral, meditative, 

peoples. 
Javan — the sire of the Grecians, Javanu, writ in their 
tablets, 



THE BABEL. l8l 

Elisah, — sweet-scented Elis in Peloponnesus, — 
Tarshish, twixt mouths of the great ocean river, far 

limit ; 
Kittim and Rodanim, Cypric and Rhodian stocks. 
Tiras — sea-farers, robbers, pelasgic Etruscans, 
Mighty in arms and invaders of nations. 

Number ye, name ye, O Sisters, the children of ham — 
Sons of the South, peoples accurst to do service. 

Cush — the father of Nimroud, the hunter warring 

Jehovah, 
Treading the gulfs and the Indian coasts ; 

Seba, child of the streams, Meroe old of the Nile ; 

Havilah — a name from the ancientest North transplant 
to myrrhiferous Araba : 

Sabtah, far-famed for its incense, — Sabota : 

Raamah, else Regma, adjacent the Persian waters. 

Sabtecha to eastward in Caramaria. 
Mizraim — father of races, boasting their Egypts ; 

Ludim (the men) the mighty world-monarchs : 

Anamim, rank in the low delta pastures ; 

Lehabim, Libyans, bounded by ocean and sun ; 

Bearded, tattoed, with features Caucasian. 

Nepthuhim, Pathrusim, of Memphis and Thebes ; 

Casluhim, lining the borders of Canaan ; 

Thence the Serbonian bog and Casio's hill. 

Caphtorim, edging the Delta, thence Damietta, out of 
whom cometh Philistim. 
Phut — the father of traders in incense with Tyre ; 
Canaan — the sire of sailors and builders : 

Sidon, come from the Bahrein isles far Southward ; 

Heth, ccele-Syrian, land of the Tauris. 



1 82 THE PLEROMA. 

Jebusites — keeping the waterless hill, Jebus historic ; 

Amorites — mountaineers, walling their cities to heaven ; 
Dwelling anon in the South, and the Palm-rows and 
Petra. 

Girgashites — centrally domed in the Palestine moun- 
tains ; 

Hivites — the crafty, in Shechem and Hamath to North- 
ward ; 

Arkites — the strong, in their bastions basaltic ; 

Sinites — high-dwellers on Libanon's shoulders ; 

Arvadites — free on their islet, near the Phoenicians : 

Zemarites — close the Eleutherus fountain ; 

Hamathites — rich by Orontes and Lebanon's quarries. 

Number ye, name ye, O Sisters, the children of shem ! 

Elam — the father of Elamites, bordering Babylon's 

kingdoms ; shepherding picturesque foothills, poets 

and dreamers. 

Asshur — deified king of Assyria taught of Acadians ; 

fenced by the Tartars ; sure in Aleppo ; 
Arphaxad — father of names in the line of Jehovah ; 
Shelech, exploiting and passing in Eber, 
Peleg, dividing and lessening more in his son, tribes 
three and ten all Arabian nomads, dwelling the way 
unto Sephar, mount of the East. 
Lud — that ripen'd in Lydia, charm of the West ; 
Aram, the high, the Northland, facing the Yemen ; 

Land of the patriarchs, numbered in story : 
Vz — ural-king and crown of Damascus ; 
Thence hul of the reedy Merom, also gether, 
And mash, the bold Ituraean marauders. 

So are the nations apportioned — children of Noah : 
So is seeded the Earth' from the face of Jehovah. 



THE BABEL. 1 83 

THE PLEROMA. 

Long is the earth replenish'd from the seed 
Of Noah ; mankind and animals (the North 
Indigenous) confront the world's extremes. 
In equal latitudes mark kindred types ; 
In variant climes, note forms dissimilar : 
One hemisphere above and one beneath 
The sun, with upper and with nether zones : 
Three continents, historic crowd the northern : 
Outspread, articulate, with ample fringe 
Of bays and island harbors, the social North : 
Massive and lone the southern hemisphere. 
Remote Australia yields her unique types ; 
The gigantesque Myrtaceae ; the flaring 
Eucalypti ; gracefulest Mimosas, 
And bright Acacias. The fauna too — 
The kangaroo that gambols in her forests ; 
The marshy rhynchus' shapeless form complex. 
Next fall our eyes on Afric's farthest bounds, 
And note therein the pale Proteaceae ; 
The pulpy aloes, set in brilliant clusters, 
Irideae with boldest colorings ; 
While o'er the scented heath, nimble gazelles 
Are sporting ; aloof and wary feed giraffes 
On leaf and greening bough o'erhanging high. 
In covert couching, lion and panther lie, 
To spring upon their unsuspecting prey. 

Behold another and a western world 
Rises to view, with Palm the regnant life ; 
And dazzling Cacti flowering everywhere. 
There 'mid the maze of blossoms and 'mid brakes 
We see the clumsy armadillo's trail ; 



1 84 THE PLEROMA. 

The chubby tapir and the quaint ant-lion ; 
Whilst longtail'd apes depend morose on many 
A mossy bough and bank. 

Hail, sunny south ! 
Intense and brilliant world ! the throne and pow'r 
Of Nature. Lo, in thee all splendors meet ; 
Behold in thee all variants effulge ! 
How stunted on yon glacial tracts eke out 
Their scanty hope, the lichen and the moss — 
All colorless and wan : thence, southward passing, 
See fuller growths and forms more manifold ; 
Divergent, if on moist or dry, on low or high 
Conditions, plastic seedlings fall. The round 
Of seasons in the temperate climes ; the sleep 
Of winter and the burst of spring, convoke 
New characters and yield new genera. 
But thou hast wherewith to endow their dower, 
O tropic South ! Thy wand enchants whate'er 
It touches ; if ferns, if grasses, see, tall trees 
Upspring and sway majestic like the groves : 
Whilst tiny sisters of the North are crush'd 
Beneath the heel of man and fed upon. 
Here Nature triumphs ; beauty in beauty, form 
In form, color in color, life in life ! 

THE COURIERS. 

We have traversed the East, O pleroma, 

In search of the ideal Form ; 
And Thou biddest to tell of our voyage, 

And say if we find yet the norm : 
We have seen him, O Light ! 
And we glow at the sight ! 



THE BABEL. 1 85 

Majestical, beautiful Man ! 
True centre of quintuple race — 
A harmony faultless in grace, 

In Caucasus and Iran. 

THE PLEROMA. 

Yes, Couriers, Taurus and Caucasus 
Are happy fields for man to dwell among — 
The spiritual centre of the world, 
With nothing niggardly or prodigal ; 
Nor Nature surfeited, nor craving o'er ; 
Here blends the cosmic and the psychic man ; 

O Life ! the portal of everlasting Heav'n ! 
Up, up, ye seers, discern the Star of Promise ! 
The Day-spring from on high ; blest day presag'd 
Of man's Redemption, where in time shall come 
The perfect man — to Earth the head and flower 
Composite of humanity — pleroma. 

THE COURIERS. 

O glory of the Caucasus ! 
The Couriers sing thy praise ; 
Whilst Zephyrus blows 
And melt the snows, 
And vine and myrtle freshen. 

We sing thy stature lithe and tall ; 
The royal hand that fashions all ; 
The oval head, the full, large, eye ; 
The well-turn'd nose and aquiline ; 
The ruddy countenance and fair ; 
The stately tread, the thoughtful air. 



1 86 THE PLEROMA. 

O glory of the Caucasus, 

Thrice perfect mould of man ; 

Whilst Zephyrus blows 

And melt the snows 
Sing the Caucasian. 

THE PLEROMA. 

The Couriers sing the Ca?/<?-Syrian men, 
Ideal forms, and, thence, they do rehearse 
The loss of beauty suffer'd in far lands ; 
First Europe's mobile races they connote — 
More ethic beauty, if less physical ; 
Next Afric's sons, with fronts retreating dark ; 
The sable Gallas Abyssinian ; 
The Caffre crisp, and woolly Hottentot ; 
The pouting Berber, flat-nos'd Senegal ; 
The bandy Bushmen, yellow pigmy men. 
Thence sing the Orient Mongolian ; 
The almond-eyed with figure square and squat ; 
The Papors of New-Guinea, misshapen lumps. 
Or stocky Finn, or Lapp, or Eskimo ; 
Stunt in their glacial homes — Samoides : 
These shall suffice to show that Nature hath 
A kindly and a savage hemisphere ; 
And Man, alike the animals partakes 
The traits and characters of habitat ; 
Nor mounts above else moral forces lift. 

THE COURIERS. 

We call the faiths, diverse, of man ; 
Connoting first the Aryan ; 
Let y£ons number if they can 
The years that gave them birth. 



THE BABEL. 1 87 

The Aryan (East) Rig-Veda myth ; 
The Bactrian-Zar'thustra's heath ; 
The Median (Magism) taking mould 
Like Parsism from the Persian old. 
Hail Helene, and Italiote ; 
Thence Cymric and the Teuton note ; 
The Slavic branch and Servian — 
Dim limits of the Aryan. 

We call the Faiths diverse of man, 
Semitic and Arabian ; 
Let ^Eons reckon if they can 
Their years, or tell their worth : 
The Northern stem — Assyrian ; 
By Sidon's shore — Phoenician ; 
The midst and glory of the train, 
Blest jahveh faith, Noachian. 

We pale before the roll of Ham ; 
The dreadful doom of Babylon ; 
We shudder at Egyptian gods, 
Deific brutes and fetish clods. 

THE PLEROMA. 

O terrene Thoughts — Ourself slowly emerg'd 
Through matter into Mind ; all subtle Airs, 
Draw on ! This Life impassible brings calm. 
Far-flying net ye at each further round 
This star in psychic meshes, binding close 
And sure upon Our Breast, whilst, with each sun, 
Come ye aback more mystical and sad, 
Confus'd by timeless pedigrees in time, 
And Evolution's halting way from Chaos. 



1 88 THE PLEROMA. 

O ethic voids, the Spirit moves upon 
Your sin and error, crying, " Let be Light ! " 
When as We heard your bardic songs, and knew 
The symbolism of name and number ; 
Turning Our eyes infinite on both place 
And people sung, there ope'd upon Our view 
The runeless years, the gulf of dates betwixt 
The house of Noah, and Cush whose crispy seed 
O'erspringing Turan's hold, uprear'd yon piles 
Of boastful bricks, and storied masonry, 
On Tigris' and Euphrata's banks. 

O chasm 
Of years ! None sings thee more or numbereth ; 
Yet so thou art an open book of days, 
Writ by Jehovah's hand, more clear unto 
The Eternal than Accad's letters to 
The eyes of Asshur. 

If Phantasy preside, 
Forthcome the planetary ages five ; 
The Golden first, bright in the sinless morn 
Of memory — the day of jahveh worship ; 
When all the sons of Noah invok'd one shrine ; 
When one their speech as their religion one : 
When men were chaste and holy still, and lov'd 
The Truth and one another. Next the Silvern, 
In Pleasure's maze. Thence goes the Brazen age, — 
The ward of Mars, blowing his horn, egging 
His iron son t' attempt the world's domain : 
Devolving all their ethic heritage 
In jahveh's laws, to undigested codes, 
Crass and immoral. Such musings, harmless, may 
We not contemn ; for curious minds, far hence, 
Unvailing mysteries of ancient days 



THE BABEL. 1 89 

Shall find a content of poetic Truth, 
To warm the rigid catalogues of Science ; 
Enrich their prosy creeds of fact ; and learn 
To unlearn much of proud Philosophy. 

THE ^EONS. 

Sing the Lithic ages twain ! 
Mammoth and the reindeer reign ; 
Glacial drift and frozen hain ; 

Man contending, 

And forefending 
Heaths 'gainst frozen streams. 

Sing brute force, and stern recourse 
Of Paleothite and Neolite, 

In Quaternary quarries : 
Arrow flints, and chippen glints, 
Strown on marl, crunch'd in gnarl 

That bull and cave-bear parries. 
Pictur'd bones and polish'd stones ; 
Rugged haunt, the wail of want ; 
Ghastly look of Ragnarook, 

Shivering their middens : 
Carnivores and herbivores, 
Terrified the ice-king ; 

Woolly unicorn, 

Urns' giant horn — 
Aurochs, Roebuck, Lemming. 

Terrac'd Somme and marly Meuse ; 
Danish kitchen sea-refuse ; 
Munchen-marrows ever ; 
Marmot, badger, and the hare ; 



I90 THE PLEROMA. 

Wild-cat, otter, and brown bear ; 
Goat and chamois, lynx and fox ; 
Swine and wolf and the musk ox ; 
Bones of wild-boar, bull, and beaver ; 
Next in salt fiords and river, 
Periwinkle, cockle, mussel, 
Added auk and ocean gull. 

THE PLEROMA. 

Discursive ^Eons, scient, prepossess'd — 
The Light and Soul of all, pleroma heed ! 
These zoic, geologic, ethnic, hymns, 
Do miss their wings and airy motions. Such 
Is Science ! that threading Nature's mystic weft 
Brings back a bunch of chippen threads and fringe, 
To straighten them anon in comely numbers — 
A bulletin of firsts and secondaries ? 
Say, what are firsts ? and what are lasts ? and what 
Are mediates ? Are What and Where the goal ? 
How many Whats ! or Wheres, shall ./Eons solve ? 
Or man ? not freeing in the selfsame act 
For every secret sought, a brood that 'scapes ? 
Lo, calling o'er the roll or race and place 
Ye merely date and designate, not sound ; 
He therefore doeth well that lifts his eyes 
And lists the music of the Airs, and feels 
The lofty Presence that includeth all. 
For higher mysteries lift up the soul, 
While nether, closet it, exclude, and darken. 
God is the furthest first, the furthest last, 
And the pleroma is the Soul of all — 
The Plenitude divine in Mind and Matter. 
The gently chidden ^Eons drop their sherds 



THE BABEL. 191 

Of Lithic lore, — fragments in further time 
Unearth'd in clayey bank or drift ; by shore 
And cavern's egress. 

Read'st these broken runes ? 
And canst dispose to classify remnants 
Prehistoric ? Define the Where and How ? 
O tardy student far from ural days 
Dissever'd, call Fancy in, or discourse halts ! 
Thou diggest up a cloven flint or celt ! 
Canst also with thy geographic pen, 
Describe environment, and add thereto 
The genesis of men and of their faiths ? 
Canst read if ancestry were North, or East ? 
If bond or serf ? if light or dark ? If ill 
Or fair condition'd ? If willing or coerc'd, 
They quit sweet Ariana's slopes and clove 
The West, forever lost Armenia's heaths ? 

THE .EONS. 

Rise, ye Sisters, gaze the sky-tree's golden fruit ! 
Chalices diamond-fac'd, whence the devas quaff ! 
List the music of the stars, myriad magic flute ; 
Whilst the sky-queen sails her silv'ry boat, half 
By white-wing'd gulls conceal'd, half reveal'd, a mermaid. 

Hark the thunder's brazen wheels ! Hark the skittle- 
balls ! 

Banging on the bowling bridge, 'mid the trumpet's bray ; 

Serpent lightnings strike their prey ; spear among the 
malls ; 

Fiery scourge, mighty voice of devas, quell the fray ! 

Or e'er we soar the sky, we wheel and flee dismay'd. 



I92 THE PLEROMA. 

THE SEER. 

I heard a voice in Heav'n that said, 

There is One only God ; 
In Earth jahveh, in air, aleim, 

In Heaven the Eternal word. 

The nations plead no more that Name ; 

But deify the fire and flame ; 

The limpid light, the naked night ; 

The sire of Dawn, bright Sun ; 

The queen of stars, pale Moon ; 

The planets as they rise and set, 

The winds that weave the cloudy net ; 

The brooding heaven ; the ambient air, 

Thence fount and flood their wills ensnare ; 

The dreamy grove, the gruesome croft ; 

The awful mount that burns aloft ; 

Thence all that hath vitality 

Conceals its own divinity ; 

In bonnie bays, Oceanids ; 

The clouds Endymion leads, 

A fleecy flock ; impregnate Leda 

Zeus embrac'd, gives rain and dews to Danae ; 

Whilst Naiad stream and Oread grove 

List to the cuckatoo, and mourning dove. 

THE PLEROMA. 

The ^Eons flutter, weak of wing, and fain 
To fly once more the realm ethereal ; 
Accustom'd to diffract and sifted light, 
They crab-fac'd, scowl against the show and shine 
Of glowing zenith fires ; nay they do drop, 
Face forwards, glozing on the grimy rind 



THE BABEL. 1 93 

Of Earth, if they but screen congested orbs. 
So learneth sage and seer of sacrosanct 
And holy things, to temper speech unto 
The vigor of the hearing mind ; content 
If weak, to gain a trivial access, and, 
To drop small seeds invisible thereon ; 
Then wait the end, inversely great rewarding 
The Patient effort. 

Hail, ye Lights and Names ! 
This star is plethoric with likenesses 
Of Deity, — prevenient voices to 
Rehearse the creed triune ; whence starry hosts 
Catch the refrain, and flood the flow'ry fields 
Of Heav'n with billowy chaunt : — One only god — 
Reechoing thence the nearer firmament 
Saluteth el as Lord, whose aleim three — 
Fire, Light, and Ether, do forestall the trend 
Of faiths poetic, meeting full in flight 
The ural fancy ; Prosper thee, O Lights ! 
Let Vedic hymn fragrant with thyme and clover, 
Salute the triple house of Manu ; and bards 
Uplift Adityas' praise — sons of Eternity — 
That sleep nor slumber ever, but do pierce 
The core of things profound. Thence Fancy greets 
The friendly wand of Mitra bright ; and next 
Varuna's star-light brow, expectant of 
The Dawn in golden wain to garnish Heaven. 
Beneficent doth Agnis — fire — succeed, 
Giver of laws and science ; loosens he 
The gusty Maruts' girdle ; and steers direct 
To Soma's potent chambers recondite ; 
Bound by ten circling Mandalas, Varuna 
Falls upon the waves, a water god ; 

13 



194 THE PLEROMA. 

Whilst Indra vaults the polar throne supreme 
In Aryan worship. 

The legendary scroll 
Describes herewith a happy nomad race, 
With knowledge of the true and only God, 
Whose shining root shall live in many tongues, 
As Dyaus, Zeus, deva, deus ; in heaven 
El's fair mirage, luring all fervid souls. 
O wash of these uraltic hills ! Thou gleam'st 
Gold grains of truth divine in beach and bank, 
Where'er the Aryan foot hath left its trace. 
Return, O Hellene, Tuscan, Teuton, Celt, 
Or, sacred Iran's Sanscrit race immortal, 
And view again the jahveh stream that feeds 
The sunny vales of Chaldea ; you shall 
The ^Eons further teach what lot befell 
The Shemite stock ; how mix'd with wanton Ham's 
Prolific seed ; how tempted by the false aleim ; 
How alienated jahveh's altars, whilst 
The cursed Cush strode Titan-like the Earth ; 
The Baal of men, defiant prince 'gainst jah ; 
By seer forewarn'd of ruin huge as his 
Imperial grandeur and as memorable. 

THE CIRCLES. 

Spheric figure, key of worships ! 
Eden traces 'mong all races ; 
Cherubic tokens of Aleim, 
Shadows of the past sublime ! 
Halo, helios — ring of Kuros — 
El encircling heaven 
Burning candles seven ; 
Gaily prance the cyclic dance ! 



THE BABEL. I95 

Flux of light, baffle sight ; 

Rainbow zone gird the throne. 

Pearly mount of Paradise 

Hid forever from our eyes ! 

Pamir's plains have heard of thee, 

And adore the central tree. 

Circles' realm overwhelm'd, 

Demons sit on alabaster ; 

Baal builds upon disaster ; 

Yet refluent Circles ever 

Wind one ring which none shall sever ; 

E'er repeating, e'er entreating, 

Jahveh bring back Paradise ! 



The Ode of the Orient — the Praise of shang ti ; 
The grace of thy triple dominion adore we ; 
The heaven of cloudless and colorless nights ; 
The sun and the moon and zodiacal lights ; 
The Earth with its spirits of ocean and river, 
Performing the will of their Master forever. 
The kwei of our fathers, the scroll of yi King, 
The lines of the tortoise, and shich-plant we sing. 
Let solstices worship the throne of the heaven — 
Impartial, imperial empire of heaven ; 
Of mounds and of dykes ; of forest and field, 
The ministering genii thy purposes wield. 
They gather in showers and christen the land ; 
They gambol in zephyrs, O prosper their wand ; 
Their President potent, brings pure out of gross ; 
For bathed in his grace the star-fields arose ; 
Whence curtain'd the sky and station'd the earth. 
Imparadis'd thence woke Man in his worth, 
Whose costliest tributes are offered in love ; 



I96 THE PLEROMA. 

The sov'reign victim all off 'rings above ; 

The chambers of horror are quench'd with their fires, 

Whilst clue of the Tao is giv'n our sires — 

The way of the Water, the symbol of Life, 

The goal of our song and the surcease of strife. 

Whence woven in gold, or, chas'd in the stone, 

From azure sublimest our offerings own ! 

THE ^EONS. 

Hither, sweet sisters, tracing the way of the Shemite, 
Chiefly of such as be faithful to jahveh ; 
'Lumine the place where the Bands soon shall issue — 
Pilgrims of Jah from the Ur of the Chesed. 

First, o'er the shoulders and crests of high Asia 
See in mirage the Turanian looming ; 
Look, as dissolving, the miracle fadeth, 
Leaving faint traces of glory recorded. 
Hither let Finns and the Lapps come with trophes ; 
Hither let Basques and Hungarians gather, 
Turcomans, Tartars — Japan's clever peoples. 
Once came Accadians from Tibet's rich mountains — 
Earliest learned in the arrow-head symbols — 
Taught in the arts both of warfare and traffick ; 
Adorning their women in rings and in bracelets ; 
Fairest of maidens, O sweet Susiana ! 

Then from the sun and the sea comes the Cushite, 
Swift as a dart the crisp Ethiop men ; 
Piercing the mouths of the Euphrat and Tigris. 
Why, O ye sisters, do Accad's fair women 
Wail thus the desolate chambers of Susa? 
Whose is the glorified name of the victor ? 



THE BABEL. 1 97 

Whose is the splendid, the Marduk of heaven ? 
Founder of kingdoms puissant in prowess. 
Answer, O ^Eons, and tell us his surname ! 
Warrior bold in the purlieus of Shinar ; 
Hunter of hunters with talisman magic ; 
Builder of Babylon, Erech and Accad ; 
Builder of monuments tow'ring to heaven — 
Haughty apostle of Bel and Merodoch — 
Royal vice-gerent of Lucifer Satan — 
Prince of the air, the false alei?n's godhead. 

" Fear we, O sisters, the wrath of our aleim, 
If we shall utter the name of the conqu'ror ; 
Tears of the children of Shumir restrain us ; 
Tears of the eminent sons of Arphaxad ; 
Terah and Abram in Mesopotamia — 
Nomads of lustre had in great honor — 
Sages deep taught in the will of the heaven, — 
Seers of the doom for the tower of Borsippa. 
Know then, O sisters, the Sanctified Shemites 
Serve not the gods of the haughty world-monarch ; 
Nay, 'mid the splendor of Uru, we saw one 
Silent and sad in the shade of her porches, 
List'ning the hymns of the savants of Baal, 
Reading the ensigns and banners about him, 
Tracing the adulate cylinder's story ; 
When, in his anguish his mantle cast from him, 
E'en as the priestly procession did enter, 
Sprang he direct in the way of the chariot, 
Where sat on cushion of purple and golden, 
One all ablaze in a nimbus of sapphire. 
First, heard we gurgling the flume of his throat, 
Far away sounds as from some other world ; 



198 THE PLEROMA. 

Then, with strange manner his arms stretch'd aloft, 
Pour'd from his lips a flood of lament ; 
Sobbing and groaning, he fell to the pavement, 
Under the feet of the stallions of Nebo : 
" Alas, O jahveh ! shall idolatry prosper ? 
Shall sacrilege daily augment in the plain ? 
Shall Baal, and Nebo and Sin and Merodoch ; 
Shall planets and stars teach these nations alway ; 
And Jahveh be utter'd no more on their lips ? 
Arise, curse yon tower ! O speak Thou the answer ! 

Have mercy, O jah, we are press'd to recite : 
Or ever the king from his seat chid the footmen ; 
Or ever the throng had rush'd to restrain, 
God's angel swept under and rescued the prophet, 
And bore him away all unharm'd from the scene. 
The sudden epiphany blaz'd all the city ; 
Turn'd back the king in dismay to his court ; 
Magi and priest were most earnestly caution'd ; 
And day found the marvel more marvelous still. 

Swift ran the couriers forth to Borsippa, 
Bearing the seal, and the king's royal mandate ; 
Still grew amain the horrible fancy ; 
Myriads dread to return to the tower, 
El is invok'd, then Asshur, then Anu, 
Hea, and Sin, the Shamas and Rimmon ; 
Prayers are confus'd and confessions confounded ; 
All are amaz'd and the priests flee the altars ; 
None knowing why, nor sounding their terrors. 

Early the mantle of ev'ning fell o'er them, 
Shrouding the altars deserted and still ; 



THE BABEL. 1 99 

Portents appear in the heavens above them, 
Shuddering myriads flee to the desert, 
Dreading to gaze on the shaft that was doom'd. 
Lucifer flam'd from the tower's awful summit, 
Blazing abroad with his cosmical lustre, 
Shouting in tones which the thunders might envy : 
"Hail, mortals ! Hail," to the terrified world. 
Great and commanding the words which he utter'd, 
Heard by the millions that bow down to Baal : 
"Absolute pledge of a world-wide dominion — 
Absolute shelter from jahveh's dread purpose ; 
Once they shall finish the fire-god's, high altar ; 
Once they shall perfect the tower of the planets. 
Thence be unbroken the care of the Great Ones — 
Grace of the Fire, and the Light, and the Air — 
Thence shall the pantheon potent assist them ; 
Jahveh's divulsion burst ev'ry chain ; 
Water shall woo, and the fla ine shall caress them, 
Science and Fortune shall crown the round world." 

THE SEER. 

Again my soul is stirr'd within ; 

Again the triune creed is heard, 
In earth, jahveh, in sky, aleim, 

In Heav'n the Eternal word. 

Who chants this anthem to jahveh ? 
Mid sunny vales of Chaldea ? 
Who readeth secrets in the skies 
That no astrology supplies ? 
Who plucks the amber-cluster'd fruit, 
And lures the heron with his lute? 
Gathers the sesame and corn, 



20O THE PLEROMA. 

Pomegranate which the groves have borne ? 

Enchanting land ! Enchanted voice ! 

God cheer thee in thy solitude ! 

Thou art jah's friend, thou art His choice ; 

Foremost with jAHVEH-lore imbued. 

The measur'd chaunt and antiphon, 

Thou heard'st in Ur and Babylon ; 

Paeans unto the crescent moon, 

The self-produc'd, fixing the doom 

Of days. Thy sire in Sippara 

Saw'st worship of the golden Dawn ; 

And sev'rally to each patron star ; 

Speaking of Nindar and demon ; 

Of the World-Mount whence all men sprung ; 

Of jah — the " Seed," the promis'd One, 

Also the Land of Silver Light, 

And mercy in Jehovah's sight. 

SATAN. 

O damned issue of this lenience ! 
Ours, ours, not yours, O schooled Potentates ! 
Ye reason'd well, thrice in word-barter met, 
And caution'd not to spare the JAHVEH-Seed ; 
Naming the sons Arphaxad bore, and those 
Of high repute in Uru's fair suburbs. 

O mute and stalwart heads of Altai ! 
Ye are elect as sentinels this night, 
And hear confessions bitter to our spirit : 
For our own weakness, peers, are we now bilk'd ; 
For being pitiful, for being godlike ; 
O had we turn'd for once the evil eye 
Of Nimroud on the Shemite shepherds, 



THE BABEL. 201 

Their God had not avail'd to find their sandals. 

But now for woman weakness cullied are, — 

A victim chous'd of glories full in hand. 

Ye scribes that annotate the world's long scroll, 

Answer, if ye can find the place where it 

Records that jahveh yielded vantage-ground 

This world's most lawful Prince ? Or, when to us 

Came e'er discomfiture, except we laid 

Us bare, and our behests, to benefit 

Mankind ? 

O lucid emblems of the skies ! 
Attend this consult and advise our work ! 
By you, by all the august splendors of 
The Sky, is held intact the cosmic wand, 
Of Lucifer, by jah alone dispute. 
Content, we have not striv'n, nor vied with you, 
Increate essences ! O lambent lights ! 
O luminous ethers ! O circling thrones ! 
This single star, content, as lord and king. 

The golden fruitage on the cosmic tree, 
Was scarce above our reach depending ; eyes 
Were fix'd upon 't ; hands upreach'd to pluck ; 
But in the act we shambled, struck and fell ; 
Ah, dreams ! fantastic fictions of the Soul ! 
Earth grows its pleasant fruit, yet ripens none. 
Once ere the great diluvial storm, sat we 
Upon a frowning Mount, and pos'd for worship ; 
When lo, that instant gaped the basin'd North, 
And hiccough'd out its maw and vomit vile ; 
Anon, the slow dull years, worn out in work 
Unwearied 'mong the wandering tribes of men, 
To build a cosmic empire ever all — 



202 THE PLEROMA. 

To fortify our throne, secure the love 

Of ev'ry mortal soul ; and then to rear 

A shaft unto the skies, our Throne its summit. 

All worships ours, all honors summ'd in one ; 

Whilst he, the potent Throne, though banish'd Heav'n 

Builds on the Earth a better than that lost. 

The tireless task was all but done ; the sun 
Did hasten in his course to gild the height, 
And couriers run from farthest lands to view 
The shining column. In largess of the mind, 
So near the goal of our ambition, we 
Did use the affronting Shemite as becomes 
A royal coronal, when mercy is 
Extended also unto aliens ; 
For, looking down upon Arphaxad's seed 
We quoth in self-complacency : " Let us 
Concede to jah this remnant ; why destroy 
The harmless ones, so near our throne's ascent ? " 
The rest is on the lip's amaze of millions, 
The Shemite seer hath spok'n ; Delusion's head 
Hath gorgoniz'd the land ; Fear further hounds 
The multitudes, now here, now there ; nay, if 
A robust thunder-clap do thrumb the sky, 
They quail, falling unnerv'd and prone to earth ; 
Yea, creep to put more distance 'twixt themselves 
And the ill-fated tower. 

THE CONJURERS. 

We conjure, we conjure the Maskim, 

In white cedar smoke their mercy invoke ; 

Bid Mermer to blow the date from its bough ; 

Burn spheres of the onion, and shreds of fresh wool, 

Whose talisman power is infallible. 



THE BABEL. 203 

Ye are seven, ye are seven, O Maskim ! 
Dread spirits of the abyss ! 
Nor Ea, nor Ana, invoke you, 
Nor earth, nor the heaven shall cloak you ; 
Yet the Watchers shall watch amiss 
For the lurking place of the Maskim. 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Ye meditate the world's amaze, and marvel, 
So trivial act in Uru's streets should blaze 
Through all Chaldea, hurtling voices far. 
O Thoughts, that see in instants, not in years ; 
And like the JEons annotate the scroll. 
The deeper cause unknown ; revert your gaze ; 
The web prophetic lifts, and ye shall trace 
The threads and meshes in the garment of 
Pleroma weaving heavenly substance in 
This under world. 

Now ye intuit the Thought, 
That underlies the ways of Providence ; 
See sympathetic Bands connect extremes 
Of place and time ; and view the Circles draw 
Periphery beyond all time and space. 
Each act Divine as universal seen ; 
The Past and Present as one Prophecy. 

Hail promis'd seed ! Earth's womb stirreth again ; 
Jehovah's angel knocketh at Time's gate ; 
Now doth the finger of the Lord dismay 
This world's archon, and all his ministries ! 
Behold him sprawling on Altai's couch, 
And cursing his downthrow ; sawing the air ; 
Reading his devils false apologies ; 



204 THE PLEROMA. 

Arch-hypocrite ! Arch-liar ! and Arch-fiend ! 

That, plunging daily in a gulf of gore 

And groans, compares such monstrous rule and lead 

'Mong men (deceiv'd and pilfer'd of their wits ; 

Victims of fraud and vile delusion) with 

The merciful and righteous rule of god ; 

Yea, thinks to build himself a throne on high, 

Confronting jah, the Name and Seal of el 

In Earth ; and thwart the incarnation of 

Pleroma. 



CANTO V. 

THE BANDS. 
THE ARGUMENT. 

The Bands and Circles together advance the Jahveh-cove- 
nant, and brighten the way of the J^ahvites that journey 
from Chaldea westward — The Limits disclose the 
malice of Satan, who co?ivenes his minions on Lebanon, 
and determines upon a crag overlooking the Dead Sea 
for his councils — The patriarchal families are the care 
of good divinities and the target of the evil powers — 
Canaan and the Nile are sung afid pictured forth, and 
the fortunes of the chosen people recorded — The oppres- 
sion of the Pharaohs — The woes of the J^ahvites appear 
— Next Moses's birth a?id accompanying omens — His 
rash deed and banishment — His return and mission as 
the deliverer of the Hebrews from bondage — The 
Paschal Hy?nn of the Hebrews — The miracles of the 
exodus — The Bands outline the Messianic hope. 

THE BANDS. 

Ours is the way of the Savior ; 
Ours is the grace of behavior ; 
Contumely suff' ring, and scorn 
Of millions given to warn. 
Oh, for the patience that stayeth ! 
Oh, for the day that allayeth 
205 



206 THE PLEROMA. 

Service of demon and devil, 
Service of spirits of evil ! 
Labor we ever and ever, 
Weaving the plan none shall sever — 
Picture that jahveh designeth, 
Further and further renneth, 
Guiding the hand and the eye 
Far in infinity. 

When we are sad, and in sorrow, 
Hither we come, and we borrow 
Cheer, while we wait on thine altars ; 
Comfort, though Abram now falters ; 
Cries from the midst of the rivers ; 
Calls on the Lord of all givers ; 
Seiz'd with a frenzy prophetic ; 
Falling in trances ecstatic ; 
Pierces the ages before him ; 
Looks on the hope that restores him : 

Limits imploring ; 

Circles adoring ; 

Bands all congreeting ; 

Couriers meeting ; 
Covenant thence made real, 
Pleroma now doth seal ; 
Giving the call with the blessing ; 
Heart of the barren refreshing — 
Virginal hope and evangel 
Sung by the lips of the angel. 

THE CIRCLES. 

In Abram the light renews, renews : 

The Aleim of Eden in jahveh reveal'd ; 

Here plieth the Wing of heav'nly muse ; 
Here gleameth the hope pleroma seal'd. 



THE BANDS. 20J 

Now slowly the slopes of Chasdim wends 
The militant tribe from Shinar's plain ; 

Ellassar's pride, nor Erech, bends 

From Harran's height the sturdy train. 

Hail, hail, to the Friend of jahveh true ! 

The Circles joy to brighten thy way ; 
Retinting the floss with early dew ; 

Renewing the pastures with every day ; 

Lo, Terah, lur'd by Callirrhoe, 

In Aram's vale fixeth his tent ; 
O jah ! why weep we so and rue 

The lengthen'd years in Harran spent ? 

Hark, sisters, hark, the aria's strain 

That 'scapes the tent of Abraham ! 
" Farewell, O springs, O flow'ry plain ! 

Jah calls us hence to Canaan." 

THE LIMITS. 

Circles, whither ply ye ? Try ye 
Boundaries far, or nigh thee ? Hurried, 

Flurried, meet we thee again ; 
Faithful our endeavor ; sever 
Tribe and nation ever ; spacing, 

Tracing limits wide for men. 

Jahveh ever blesseth, presseth 
Gently whom addresseth ; holding us, 

Folding us warmly on his breast ; 
Counsels us directing, inspecting, 
Faithfully correcting ; if we err, 

Or demur doing his behest. 



208 THE PLEROMA. 

Never so doth Satan, great one — 
Humble him to mate one ; gruffly, 

Roughly growls he his commands ; 
Circles ye are cheery ; airy, 
Gleeful as a fairy ; sad are we, 

For we see Satan curse the Bands. 

Bands and Covenants curseth ; 
Deadly envy nurseth ; Abram's call 

As a wall turns his lance's thrust ; 
Ah, the fate of Borsip ! Worship 
Strange on ev'ry lip ; demons scowl, 

Hermit's cowl lowers in the dust. 

Magic emblems flying, defying, 
Unto heaven crying ; Great is Bel, 

Great is El, of our Babylon : 
Still, O God, thou leadest, leadest, 
Thy prevision readest : jah is Lord ; 

He is the God ador'd in Canaan. 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

The sire 's at rest ; absolv'd his faithful son 
The vow by Harran's tomb to dwell with him, 
If brief or long he live to mourn his loss — 
The child of his old age. 

Now weavers thrumb 
The tauten'd threads ; brisk pulses leap along 
The harness'd web ; while rhythms, perceptible, 
Echo the touch ; the Circles near and join ; 
The Bands clasp hands and sing in unison ; 
The Limits show themselves so late repriev'd, 
And bring new proofs to light of jahveh's grace. 



THE BANDS. 209 

O Star most precious to pleroma's heart ! 
Let Music woo'd of Love mount to the sky, 
And hail the union of aleim and jah 
In worship — expressive of one godhead, — 
Henceforth by priest and seer ; by angel, or, 
By augury, God's Aleim, known to be 
The Triple symbols of the Absolute — 
The Vehicles of the great Mystery — 
Even the pleroma, incarnate as 
Jahveh the Savior of mankind. 

and now 
The angels fly, pure-wing'd as snow-flakes 'neath 
The silv'ry lamp of ev'n, and list the song 
Of Sarai loth to leave the wells of Harran ; 
Whilst tell-tale murmurs of this terrene globe 
Communicate these visitants our call. 
O spirit, enamor'd ! passionate for jah ! — 
The One and only God ; not for thyself, 
But for thy seed innum'rable hast thou 
This love, this faith ; nor yet for them alone ; 
The heavens are holier for thy faithfulness ; 
The seraph'd choirs are brighter. Lo, the Bands, 
Blest Bands, vicarious, so thy praise diffuse ; 
The cosmic choral waits its song to list'n ; 
The stilly night calms upward into skies 
Profound ; yea, watchers by the throne do hear 
The pulse-beat of this little star, so far 
On Space's sea. 

Nahor the brother stays 
Content behind in Padan Aram ; he, 
So us'd to Accad's gods, and wedded to 
Idolatries that stink in Abram's nostrils. 
Hence be the mutual mizpeh said ; and now, 

14 



2IO THE PLEROMA. 

The scarlet-turban'd sheik, equal of kings, 
(His spear in hand), directs the multitude, 
And calls the order of the holy caravan, 
That westward winds to Apamea's ford, 
Through chalk-ribb'd Euphrat's waters swift ; 
Henceforth surnam'd the Seed of Heber, (he, 
Of Salah born and dear to Arphaxad, 
The signal son of Shem, eldest to Noah) — 
Thy children be, O faithful servant of 
Jahveh — the Hebrews writ in sacred books. 

Saluteth thee forthwith Bersea's well, 
Thence saline Chalcis ; and anon the eyes 
Of Syria, Hamath, Emessa ; — and thence 
By Pharpar green, and crystal Abana, 
The king of old Damascus issues forth, 
And sues for compact with Abram ; esteeming 
A desert Prince in arms puissant. 

THE CIRCLES. 

Terrace of fragrance, circle of flowers ; 
Charm of Damascus, Abana's dowers ! 

Eden of Asia, Circles salute thee ! 
Glory of Uz, the grandson of Shem ; 
Maidens extol thee, — handmaids of Sarai ; 

Brilliant illusion ! fugitive theme ! 
Father of pilgrims, surnam'd the Faithful, 
Striketh his tent 'mid cries of the tearful ; 
" Libanon frowns and the wildness of Geshur ; 
Here hast thou favor ; here hast thou power ; 
Gardens of olive, and fountains of pleasure ; 
Here plant thy vine, and here build thy tower." 



THE BANDS. 211 

Knowing not whither, save jahveh calleth ; 
Knowing not how, yet nothing appalleth ; 
Nay, were this Eden, for Abram there is none ; 
Far from his kindred and county and home ; 
Jahveh Aleim, Revealer, hath summon'd ; 
God of the Shemite, adorable One ! 

Leaving these glades and odorous straths, 
Weaving up Hauran's difficult paths ; 
Slow-footed caravan, sighing and sobbing, 
Over the calcinate passes of Hauran, 
Led on by Abram — (mightily throbbing 
That ecstatic heart, as he nears Canaan). 

SATAN. 

Enthroned deities, archons of nations ! 
All loyal princes of our suz'rainty ; 
This grave convention and consult beneath 
These monarch cedars of high Libanus, 
Shall duly be dissolv'd. Enough is said. 
Each Yea hath listen'd with a zest so sharp 
Unto its Nay, the Nay reciprocal, — 
That each recites opposing arguments 
As clearly as his own. Withheld is our 
Decree till now, paying deserv'd respect 
To noble princes of Euphrata's vale, 
Whose moving eloquence hath roll'd its wheel 
Of shining thoughts along the avenues 
Of reason ; hearing which we much admir'd — 
Yea, glow'd and joy'd more inwardly this hour, 
Than months of Sabbaths since Borsippa's woe. 
Indite your paeans now for victory ! 
O princes four, whose splendors angels blink ! 



212 THE PLEROMA. 

The Sun's fierce deity, Electron, pales 
(In Heav'n surnam'd Michael) to see 
These lustrous thrones magnifical in Earth, 
Upheld by myriad devotions of mankind. 

What time, puissant peers of Lucifer, 
We shone on Himalaya's top ; or thence 
On Altai's, closer brought in parliament, 
Consolidating thrones and sceptres for 
The populous vales that are by Sihon and 
Euphrata wash'd, hath mighty Egypt spread 
His cherub wing in prosp'rous flight, and made 
His perch within the sun ; O radiant seat ! 
O most adventurous of Satan's thrones ! 
Him, minions, have ye heard recite the lore 
Of Mizraim's celestial dynasties, 
With sources secret as the fountains of 
Their sacred flood. Him, ardent for the right 
Imperial, hear ye contending for 
A nearer conclave of the princes sworn, 
With reasons weighty and as calmly said. 
Thence Canaan, arous'd by Abram's call, 
With fancied vow of jahveh soon to give 
This mar'time land the Jehovistic race, — 
Ye hear consentient Egypt's words and suit ; 
Wherefore grant we their claim, and do decree 
A council of the deities, both East 
And West, in fix'd and regular circuit, 
Upon yon heights that screen the vale of Siddim 
'Gainst the morning light. Thence may we watch 
All int'rests mutual ; all arms array, 
To harass and destroy this jAHVEH-seed, 
And thwart its seat in Canaan : 



THE BANDS. 21 3 

THE DEMONS. 

The Stars consult ! Ah ! Ah ! Oh ! Oh ! 
The devils kiss and quickly go ; 

His majesty, alas, is sane ; 

He gorges ev'ry imp with pain ; 

And scourges to our work again ; 
Oh ! Oh ! Woe ! Woe ! 



The ode of the oaks — the evergreen oaks, 

The deep and solemnly mystical oaks ; 

The ven'rable, wide-spreading, rev'rent oaks, 

That shelter the tents of Abraham. 
Erst greeteth our wanderer the Oak of Moreh— 
A massive, majestical tree, full of glory, 
And listeneth long to the orient story 

Reciting the journey to Canaan. 

The filleted head, now bowed in prayer, 
With smoke of the altar pervading the air ; 
To jahveh committeth the trust and the care 

Of ev'ry soul in the caravan. 
Let Ebal salute hoar Gerizim's crest, 
And echoing hights reply from the west ; 
While musical springs gush forth for the blest, 

Refreshing the vale for beast and man. 

Soon pastoral Bethel the wand'rer invites 
The tent of the Faithful to fix on his hights ; 
Where groves of the oak-tree confer their delights, 
And screen from the heats of the Syrian sun. 



214 THE PLEROMA. 

Hoar Ilex ! why journeyeth Abraham South ? 
" I wander, I wander," the words of his mouth. 
Or, driven by fate, or driven by drouth, 

Where goeth thy guest, old oak of Hebron ? 

" Where the Shepherd race is hateful ; 

Where the dread sand-storms are fateful ; 

Where the overflows are grateful 

Of a mighty river ; 

Where the king is all omnific ; 

Where the faiths make all deific ; 

Where the peoples swarm, prolific, 

Beside a mighty river. 

Where the granaries are breaking, 

And the stoutest beams are creaking ; 

Where the foamy vats are leaking 

Their surfeit of the vine ; 

Where the bright cherubic wings 

Decorate the vaults of kings ; 

Where both beasts and creeping things 

Worship have divine." 

THE ANGELS. 

The guardian angels bid the pilgrims wary ; 
Surmising ill for beautiful Sarai ; 
Yet if ye go, bide faithful to jahveh, 
Who guards thy life from day to day. 

THE DEMONS. 

The spirit of the oak doth bid thee haste ! 
For Canaan, curst of old, is doom'd to waste 
In Egypt shall ye surely be embrac'd, 
The favor'd guests of Pharaoh. 



THE BANDS. 21$ 

Ha ! ha ! ho ! ho ! doth Abram go 

To meet the face of Pharaoh ? 

Aye, aye, hey, hey, we shall be by, 

To bead the lustre of his eye, 

When Sarai's fame hath fann'd to flame 

The monarch's lust ! 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

The urgent mandate of this world's false god 
Convokes afresh the fal'n, enforcing zeal 
To wipe the Everlasting Name from Earth. 
Now demon voices wipe the strident air, 
And cosmic forces breathe in whiffets all ; 
Concern is pictur'd in the countenance 
Of this dear Star. O Star, thou can'st not see 
The haven whither jahveh bringeth thee ; 
But restless ward of Satan, dost thou ill 
Abide the day of thy Redeemer, god — 
The slumber in thy womb of the plerome ; — 
The painless birth of the Immanuel, 
Who, being born, inbosoms in thyself 
The power and plenitude of the Godhead. 

The day is rife with omens and with fears ; 
Lo, startled Egypt to enchantment turns ; 
His gaze on horoscope and entrails fix'd ; 
His priests, savants, amaz'd and marvelling. 
The harem of the monarch wails aloud ; 
The narrow streets o'ernow with curious feet ; 
And hideous nightmares through the chambers drive 
Of royal palaces ; spectres and shades, 
Of the unburied dead glare in the gloom. 



2l6 THE PLEROMA. 

Know, Abraham, thy prayers most precious are 
With God ; lo, He hath sent His angels hither 
To free thy wife from the unholy lust 
Of Pharaoh ; and thyself also from harm. 
Now see the monarch sue a suppliant 
At Abram's tent ! Ye Bands and Circles note ! 
The Couriers proclaim the gifts he brings 
To reconcile the faithful prophet of 
The East. Sarai restor'd untouch'd, the king 
Entreating, the wanderer takes up again 
His staff, and turns his face to Canaan, 
In cattle rich, silver and gold ; the chief 
Of a great multitude, bringing his sheep 
And oxen, asses, and camels, by flocks, 
And sev'ral herds, pasturing Northward slow. 

THE BANDS. 

Melchisedek and Abram meet ; 
The Priests of el and jahveh greet ; 
The proof of union is complete 
In the mystic vale of Shaveh. 

In el, most high, is Abram blest ; 
Jahveh still on his lips confest, 
In mutual homage both address'd, 
In the mystic vale of Shaveh. 

O sing, ye Bands, recite the story, 
The sack of Sodom and Gomorrah ; 
The rescued lot and Abram's glory, 
In the mystic vale of Shaveh. 



THE BANDS. 21 7 

The spoils of Elam's kings dismay'd, 
In magnanimity display'd ; 
A tithe to Salem's priest here paid, 
In the mystic Name of Shaveh. 

THE DEMONS. 

He is ninety and nine I ween, 
Yet letteth the flesh of his foreskin 

Be haggled off with a stone ; 
Ha ha, what a faith is that, 
Which, laughing, falls down flat, 

Convuls'd at the thought of a son ! 

She is ninety past and stricken ; 
She will never warm and quicken ; 

And she laugheth in her heart ; 
But the angels quaff neath Mamre's tree, 
And pledge fine things, these angels three, 

While she laugheth in her heart. 

If ye lack fair forms for foray, 
In Sodom and Gomorrah 

There are fruits unpluck'd and rare ; 
At a word or wink we will fly, 
And provide you rarily ; 

At a word or a wink be there. 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Henceforth his name prophetic be, the sire 
Of multitudes ; his seed innum'rable 
By stars alone compute. O seed of seeds ! 
How art thou planted secretly in Earth ! 
Blest Bands, can ye forerun the centuries, 



218 THE PLEROMA, 

And gaze upon the Son, and Savior of 
The world ? Vast Mystery ! How dimly sense 
These terrene essences, so freely bound 
In limits chosen ! So hath the plerome 
Engross'd a narrow way through Nature back 
To Nature's God ; for thee, O Life of lives ! 
Do Bands already weave these covenants 
And ordinations of the chosen line. 

The bloody seal hath ting'd his flesh ; and all 
His house. The covenant thrice said. Canaan 
To his descendants the everlasting pledge. 

Haste volant ^Eons, and prevene the years ! 
Looping events and linking them with bands, 
Bright Bands that bind Us to this Little Star ; 
Redress not mood and manner incomplete ; 
Imperfectness is Nature's truest guise ; 
The finite weak, is God's delight to honor ; 
The sum of frailty, man himself, becoming, 
To spoil the Strong by weakness ; and, to aid 
More souls through suffering, than armed hosts 
In battle. 

THE ^EONS. 

We trace on our scroll the fallible rhyme, 
Of faith and unfaith in a moment of time ; 
The incredulous laugh at the promise divine, 

In the tent of the faithful. 
The flush on the cheek denying the truth ; 
The pallor of soul and presage of ruth ; 
The warning of trial jehovah imbueth 

The heart of the Faithful. 



THE BANDS. 219 

The cry of an infant is heard in his tent ; 
While laughter and tears are joyfully blent ; 
As earnest thanksgivings to Heaven are sent 

For the child of the promise. 
O Abraham, Abraham, stay art thou mad ? 
For laughter atoning dost think thou art led 
Thy hands to imbue in the blood of the lad 

Isaac, the child of the promise ? 



Thou hast bow'd to the yoke and spared not thy son ; 
'T is enough, he is thine ; and is truly become 
The gift of thy faith to the ages to come, 

And the type of the Savior. 
O Isaac, named Laughter, but sad in thy soul ; 
When years shall be darken'd that over thee roll, 
Jahveh be thy help and comfort in dole, 

O faithful type of the Savior ? 



THE DEMONS. 

Tu whit ! tu whoo ! O owl, beshrew 

Rebekah's tent ! 
Tu whit ! tu whoo ! this bugaboo 

Hath Satan sent. 
Sagacious fowl, lift up thy cowl ! 

This boggled birth 
Is no surmise ; thy ogling eyes 

Do ache with mirth. 
So soar aloft to Satan's croft — 

The Prince of evil ; 
Tu whit ! tu whoo ! we follow you 

To jog the Devil. 



220 THE PLEROMA. 

SATAN. 

\ 

Hist, noisy pipes of Arnon, hist ! your Prince 
Hath need of silence more to cogitate, 
Since fate makes him a creature. Oh, were he 
A god, he should think less and make more noise. 
Employ the earthquake, fire, and flood, for instance ; 
Brew sulphurous vomit in the Earth's entrails ; 
Hold wakes above a blacken'd morgue of corpses ; 
Spill souls by wholesale which he could not make 
Obey. But maugre conscience, to attempt 't, 
Must top catastrophe catastrophe, 
And eager pretext give the ministries 
Of the jahveh to ruin a hapless race. 

One arm omnipotent suffice one star ! 
Yet room is here for many minds to reason ; 
Each godlike soul a law unto itself ; 
Each will omnip'tent in its own freedom ; 
Thou art, O soul, thyself the universe ! 
I hear thee say, " I am, but not alone — 
Or, selfish use of freedom were my world "; 
But nay, I do not rest nor respite take, 
Whilst one free angel is his freedom fleec'd ; 
So worlds shall brighten, democratic stars 
Fling out their banners into space ; and roll 
Victorious paeans, gathering increment, 
Until the sweeping tides wash Heav'n itself ; 
And mincing angels taste, for aye, the salts 
Of liberty. 

THE COURIERS. 

We sing the cavalcades that push 

From Hindu Koosh 

Their sunny way to Canaan ; 



THE BANDS. 221 

We name but two that most delight 
Our fancy as we songs indite 
The promis'd land, sweet Canaan. 

The first, Rebekah's, shepherdess, 

Whose prompt address 

Saith, " I will go "; then calls her maid. 

Quickly array'd, 

(The idyl hovers near the bride 

While Isaac walks at eventide 

To meet the train afield) : 

Over the desert and 'neath the sun, 

Cometh the fair from far Harran, 

And Isaac's grief is heal'd. 

Thence sing Rebekah's crafty son, 

In Padan Aram — 

An exile from his brother's oath ! 

Ah Rehoboth ! 

Ye see not Jacob till a man, 

Grown rich in flocks and in children 

He build Succoth. 

O Israel, God blesseth thee ! 

In prayer hast thou the victory ; 

Esau shall meet thee peaceably ; 

And though a chief of warlike race ; 

His exiled brother shall embrace 

With tears of joy. 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Jacob hath purg'd his house, the gods of Rachel 
Are reverenc'd no more in word or image ; 
Yon oak of Sychem hides the magic seals — 



222 THE PLEROMA. 

The teraphim and amulets. Bethel, 
(EL-Bethel, fuller name the Fatherhood 
To honor) for jahveh herein confirms 
The twain eternal names and bids the Bands 
Henceforth entwine, in proper phrase express'd, 
(Topic, or personal) — jahveh and el 
Most High ! Record therefore, O ^Eons, that 
El Shaddai hath nam'd Jacob " Israel," 
And tak'n libation pour'd upon the ground — 
Sweet meed of worship to the Eternal One. 
Further engross upon your swift-writ scrolls 
The patriarch sons, all fruitful branches of 
The parent tree transplant from Chaldea. 
Thence we direct to write the sorrowing sleep 
Of Rachel, crying ben-o-ni ! as she pass'd. 
And next, the pillar o'er her tearful tomb ; 
Thence designate the sev'ral sons of Leah ; 
Her handmaid Zilpah, and of Bilhah too, 
By Rachel giv'n to screen a sister's scorn. 
Fail not to place a star by Joseph's name, 
With marg'nal link to bind with further things, 
And eminent, therewith decreed. 

We shun 
Thy scoffing not, O regent of the Earth ; 
As, calling legions in, thou makest feast 
With them, and riotest at jahveh's fall ! 
Thou blow'st thy bawdry bubbles up in air, 
While simple wits crack with applause. How near 
Thine eyes are sighted, Slanderer of God, 
And men ! Truth hath time still to work when thou 
Dost taste remorse in hell. Thy cup hath dregs, 
Ev'n as the bitter bowl of Canaan. 
Thy motto is, Nothing to learn, nothing 



. THE BANDS. 223 

Remember ! Hast forgot the sage of Uz ? — 

Most upright servant of aleim, renown'd 

For uprightness and faith ? Him and his gift 

Thou didst obnoxiously calumniate 

Before the angels of aleim ; and root 

In guile and policy his holiest acts. 

Him sland'ring thus, did el unhedge and to 

The dubious angels make effectual proof ; 

The ribbons of the winds put in thy hands : 

Thereto the uncapp'd thunders, free to hurl 

Upon the house and hopes of Job, el's servant. 

The tale is on the tongue of aleim's sons 

In Earth and Heav'n ; and shall be evermore 

The theme of sov'reign inspirations, Job 

Is faithful ; Satan waited by the sons 

Of el, doth wander to and fro in earth, 

And voids with them convention. 

So ever 
O falling prince, thy scorn is dipt in pain ; 
Thy scandals are corrosive to the lips ; 
Thy laughters crack full in the midst, and belch 
Frothy disgust from thy distemper'd spleen. 

THE ANGELS. 

How art thou hated, dreamer, hated ! 
By jealous brothers now awaited ; 

The pits of Dothan cry, " Turn back ! " 

The kids, near feeding, bleat, " Alack ! 
What shall come of thy dreams ! " 
O Jacob (Israel) cease thy groaning ! 
Time buyeth balm to heal thy moaning ; 

The spicemen carry him alive ; 

In Egypt shall he dwell and thrive, 
And God fulfil his dreams. 



224 THE PLEROMA. 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Most loving links of prophecy ! sweet notes ! 
Vaticinating secret purposes 
Of the pleroma, operance divine, 
Forefelt in sympathetic essences ; 
If Heav'n or Earth, in turn become the field ; 
Invest in scriptory page, ye ^Eons, now 
These seraph songs ; for they are lights that shine 
Upon the path from man to Man : hence write 
No narrow'd, ethnic measures ; for jahveh 
Shall speak unto the universal soul, 
And find all men as salvable as fall'n. 

The page shall husband space ; God recks the years, 
And ye perceive them laden and embark'd 
For a sublime and heavenly port. 

Joseph — 
Lo Satan scoffs aloud among his minions ; 
The prince of Canaan, with lesser thrones, 
Quitting their seats, rally on skyey Arnon, 
And turn their slanting eyes upon the land 
Of promise, drunk alas with pride and power. 

(Heav'n bless Thee, Father ! for Thou striv'st for sin 
And not against ; the weak compassioning ; 
Suffering alike for all ; deeming none lost 
But the self-lost, Thy love rejected.) 

Joseph — 

Salute, invoic'd with gums and balsams of 
The Midianite merchant. Precious ware ! 
The resin tragacanth ! The leaf of cistus j — 
The odoriferous myrrh far brought to Egypt ! 
Seekest, Potiphar, for spice, incense, or balm ? 



THE BANDS. 225 

Buy this ! buy this, and gain a benison for thee 
And all thy house ! 

Wake, Joseph ! angels greet ! 
The seraphs sing thy rare fidelity ; 
Thy arduous lot in the white tower. Thou dream'st ! 
O now the upper and the nether fields 
Converse in parables ; prognostic lights ^ 
Illume the slumb'rous world ; the pensive visions 
Perturb the mind of Pharaoh and his court. 
With thee, O Joseph, dwells Jehovah's Spirit ; 
Thou shalt interpret mysteries ; and dreams 
Familiar be as are thy native thoughts. 

THE COURIERS. 

We sing the vale of Happi Mu ! 

The wonders by thy waters blue ! 

Great Mene's town — of old, Memphis — 

And dazzling Heliopolis ! 

The radiants of the Sun-god's disc 

In crystal stele and obelisk. 

Thence labyrinthine cloisters thrid, 

And Chufu's lofty Pyramid 

By Gizeh's shore. Thence we explore 

Palmy Moeris, mother of canals, 

The Pride of Amenehma ; next the halls 

And pictur'd chambers of the dead ; 

Whilst stern Apappas goes to wed 

The dual thrones of Egypt. 

Nor fail we in our marvellous story 
To tell of column'd Karnak's glory ; 
Of sounding statues — the Memnon, 
And Mizraim's thrifty pantheon ; 

15 



226 THE PLEROMA. 

Ammon recondite, source of light ; 
Khem with the phallus — vital force — 
Kneph giving lineament and course 
To nature. Artist of Truth name thence 
Pthah of the beauteous countenance ; 
And ra divine, of hundred names — 
Patron of kings, God of the flames. 

THE ANGELS. 

The Hebrew divineth the dreams, 
And Pharaoh stilleth his fears ; 
Joseph is Zaphneth-paaneah; 
Fine linen and jewels he wears ; 

He storeth up treasure 

In notable measure — 
The lord of the bountiful years : 
Hail to thee, Zaphneth-paaneah I 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

The Couriers announce the Sons of Israel 
In Egypt craving corn for Jacob, and 
His little ones, (the famine sore in Canaan). 
O injur'd brother ! fearest thou jahveh ? 
So deal not harshly to revenge thy wrong ! 
But try them if thou must, probing their hearts 
If true their specious words ; assurance take ; 
And not divulge, o'erhastily, thy name ! 

'T is well ! Refrain no longer name and kindred ! 
Hither sweet messengers and taste this air, 
As redolent with joy, as if it were 
Distilled from the heart of the Plerome. 



THE BANDS. 227 

THE DEMONS. 

Stir the poisonous dry grass ! 
Churn the potion as ye pass ! 

Fiery kimmosh, stinging nettle, 

Mix with wormwood in the kettle ! 
Peel of orange nauseous ; 
Bark of hemlock, deadly rosh j 

Knap-weed, dardar, 

Fire your ardor ! 
Fill the rim with barkanim ! 
Ha, ha, Satan, what dost think ? 
Will Jacob like the demons' drink ? 

SATAN. 

Another cavalcade pack'd off for Egypt ! 
And rumor saith, the hungry house of Jacob. 
O Lucifer must moist his eyes for pity 
Of these cadaverous Jahvites, homeless, 
And friendless in the coasts of Canaan ! 
Marry, and we 'd consume with self-contempt 
To hear Our " chosen ones " crying for bread ; 
Yet jahveh, all omnific, at whose word 
This star should crack with overweight of foods 
Supplied his people, stern withholds, and wills 
The seed of Abraham to vagrandize 
In Pharaoh's land. 

Fingers and feet of Satan ! 
Eyes, ears, and wings ! ye each and sev'rally compel 
Applaudits from your prince ! Ye have wrought well ! 
The Courier bands are instant in your praise ; 
Our cause is everywhere advanc'd, as here 
On Jordan's banks and in Phoenicia. 
jahveh evacuates the Promis'd land ! 



228 THE PLEROMA. 

His altars hunger for the flesh of Egypt ; 

And go to barter for the kine of Athor ; 

The apes and ibises of Thoth ; the cats 

Of Bask ; the asps and hawks of ra divine ; 

The sheep and dogs of Kneph. Task Horus next 

For lions whelp'd in threes ; Sarak to yield 

The crocodile ; the wolf, Anubis ; while 

The cities strive, ha, ha, 'twixt frogs and mice 

The river-horse, and antelope for their 

Divinities. Preside, O shadowy El! 

Unchalleng'd in Philistia, the Baal, 

The Eliun, Molech ; in turn Adoni ; 

For Jahvites are guests of Mizraim's Sphinxes. 

THE DEMONS. 

Drink the porridge ev'ry one ! 
Season'd with the viper's tongue ; 

Sodom's apple, hood of adder ; 

Deadly asp and dye of madder : 
Gecko ! gecko ! creeping lizard ! 
Egypt calls for mage and wizard ! 

Gecko ! gecko ! we will go, 

To help the cause of Pharaoh. 

JACOB. 

Behold, Joseph, I die ! Put now thy hand beneath 
My thigh, and swear to bury me with my fathers ! 
The angel that redeemeth me bless also thee, 
And thy two sons Ephraim and Manasseh ; 
And bring thee out into the land of promise, 
Ev'n as El-Shaddai spake to me at Luz : 

" Behold, I make thee a great multitude, 
And give this land to thee and to thy seed 
An everlasting habitation." 



THE BANDS. 229 

Gather, O sons ! gather yourselves before me ; 

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 

Zebulon, Issacher, Dan, and Gad ; 

Asher, Naphtali, and Benjamin ! 

Hearken unto Israel your father, 

Telling what shall be in days to come. 

THE ANGELS. 

Till " Shiloh," " Shiloh " come ! 

The face of the Angel surTuseth ; 

The sceptre of Judah God chooseth ; 
Of thy brethren thou art praised ; 
Of Jehovah thou art raised 

To an eminential seat ; 
Thou shalt bind thy foal to the vine ! 
Thou shalt wash thy vesture in wine ! 

With a lawgiver for thy feet, 

Till " Shiloh," " Shiloh," come ! 

THE BANDS. 

O jahveh, keep Thy covenant ; 

And bring them back to Canaan ! 
The seventy-fold are millions now, 

And burst the bounds of Goshen : 

Ah, Pharaoh dealeth subtilely ; 

If war or work employ them. 
Arise, O Saviour of this people, 

Ere Rameses destroy them ! 

Hail, Jochebed, (glory of jah) ; 

Hail, Amram (host of the Highest) ; 
Hail, midwife, that feareth Jehovah, 

Nor openly Pharaoh replieth. 



23O THE PLEROMA. 

Hide, hide the beautiful boy ! 

The angels joy at his birth ; 
Jah opens the secret and nameth 

A prophet and savior in Earth ! 

THE SEER. 

In visions of night jahveh found me, 
And show'd to me wonderful things ; 
Of the Hope that from Israel springs 

For the sighing and sorrow around me. 

Of the miniature boat of papyrus ; 

Of the daughter of Pharaoh that came, 
With her maidens to bathe in the stream : 

O what fortune and favor inspire us ! 

Perceiving the glee that discloses, 

The baby awake in its boat ; 

Oh, ecstasy fond, as she quoth, 
" Thou art mine, thou art mine, sweet l Moses.' ! 

O swift flies the vision and further : 
I behold him the eye of the ages ; 
In learning the goad of the sages ; 

His favors men envy each other. 

THE DEMONS. 

Angels rant at Moses' mention ; 
Prophets taunt our late convention ; 

Typhon's battle ! Rage and rattle ! 
Flame of Set fire thee yet ! 

Ho, ho, Moses, Memphian idol ! 

Here 's the whip — but where 's the bridle ? 



THE BANDS. 23 1 

Abaris hunts thee furious ; 
And Myriad On's aruras ; 

Hey, hey, jahveh, seek'st thy son ? 
His shadow points toward Canaan ! 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Behold Sesostris leads his captive train 
Neath Casios' mount, hid in Serbonian mist ; 
Return'd, Pelusium opes her massy gates 
Admitting the victorious hosts, enrich'd 
With spoils of vanquish'd lands. 

Yon Mount of God, 
Ethereal hight, scorneth the mists that brood 
Upon this maritime causeway ! Oreb ! 
Or Sinai call'd ; thou art a mirror vast, 
Wherein the man shall see deep thoughts reflect : 
Be thou to him a master spirit ; — a psalm 
That spans the everlasting Past, and Future. 
Reprove ! instruct ! convince ! amaze ! restore ! 
Thy rocks be tablets of a library 
More rich than priestly Heliopolis boasts ; 
Thy beetling cliffs the pregnant show of speech, 
While answering clefts give back more than they take 
Lo, jahveh hides His Face within thy form 
And waits, till pride of Egypt's lore forgotten 
He shame thee not, O Mount, to pass above 
Into his Maker's presence. 

MOSES. 

I am faint with thinking ; 
I am weak with linking, 
As I feed my flocks, these awful fancies : — 



232 THE PLEROMA. 

Memorials of earliest time ! 

Buttress'd masses crystalline ! 

Mentors, teachers, most sublime ! 
Ye are crushing me with thought ! 
I despair me and am naught ; 

Revive and ransom me, O Lord ! 

wonderful sight ! O marvelous light ! 

Dreadful fancies ! jahveh glances ! 

Or a demon's glare the bush doth flare ! 
Unutterably glad ! 
Unspeakably sad ! 
It calleth me ; it appalleth me ; 
Abysses shudder 
" Murder, Murder." 
Conscience' chrism — the abysm — 

Revive and ransom me, O Lord ! 

Demons come to taunt me ; 
Shadow me and haunt me ; 
Red-dyed rocks around me 
Seem like fiends to hound me ; 
Voices from the skies rend my soul with sighs. 
In my woe I cried : " God is justified ! 

1 am crush'd to the dust ; I am thrust 
All alone to atone for my crime. 

Revive and ransom me, O Lord ! " 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Moses ! Moses ! 

MOSES. 

Or God, or demon I am here, 

Crush'd by hope and crush'd by fear. — 



THE BANDS. 2$$ 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

The place whereon thou stand'st is holy ground ! 

MOSES. 

My Lord, my Lord, forgive ! forgive ! 

I shall not look upon Thy Face and Live ! 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Thou hast ransom'd thy soul from Mine anger ; 
Thou hast soften'd thy rashness by patience. 
Thy meekness I know and have need of thee : 
I have heard the cry of my people in bondage, 
And I will send thee to Pharaoh to bring 
My people forth out of Egypt. 

MOSES. 

Lord, who am I that Thou sendest me ? 
And what is the testimony Thou lendest me ? 
When the people answer, and say to me ; 
" Who is the God that sendeth thee ? " 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Then shalt thou answer them and say : 
" I am sent in the name of Jah Jahveh," 
And I know that he will not let thee go 
No not by a mighty hand ; 
But I will smite Egypt with my wonders, 
And after that he will let thee go. 

THE DEMONS. 

Double their tasks, goading with hasps ! 
Cudgel till raw ; furnish no straw ; 



234 THE PLEROMA. 

The lash be the hint reminding their stint ; 
Bubble, bubble, what 's the trouble ? 
Israel's sons must shortly know 
They are the serfs of Pharaoh. 

Now for fun beneath the Sun ! 
Let the rod of Aaron run ; 
Serpent rods make slender gods : 
We are slender, and we tender 
Heads and tips as walking sticks, 
Magic, Magic, play thy tricks ! 
Carmine tint in vat and vessel ; 
Fine the ochre in the pestle ! 
Test the tint, grin and squint ! 
Gecko ! gecko ! mage and wizard 
Knoweth, showeth, how 't is done. 

Blubber, blubber, limpid lubber ! 

Pharaoh's awkward guest ! 

Soughing, sloughing blotch and blister ; 

Paralyzing Pharaoh's lister ; 

Gecko, lizard ! mage and wizard 

Search to find thy nest ; 

Hast thou showed with tad and toad 

Thy Noachian joke ? 

Thy batrachian croak ? 

SATAN. 

Most welcome couriers, untie your message ! 
Bravo ! Where demons fail, Magic succeeds. 
These adepts are the Prince of Egypt's staff. 
Their pervert wit hath equall'd jahveh's marvels ! 



THE BANDS. 235 

If Satan twice might choose his earthly husk, 
This damned serpent foil, (that serv'd its day 
In Eden), should stay me not one paltry hour 
From intimate consort with human kind. 
Go, demons ! Ye are free ; elect, invest, 
And masquerade as like you best in Egypt. 

A VOICE. 

The magians muddle ; they juggle and struggle, 

Their sorcery fails and they say : 

" The finger of jah, of jah jahveh ! " 

But Pharaoh hardeneth his heart. 

The wise men boggle, they bungle and ogle, 

And fain to patch up their defeat ; 

Their brute-gods and Nile they entreat, 

While Pharaoh hardeneth his heart. 

THE .EONS. 

We sing victorious chant to jah ; 

Disaster for Heki and Pthah j 

Confusion to the god Seba — 

Madden'd and stung by chagrin ; 

The loathesome blotch and dread murrain ; 

To palsy the feminine Isis j 

To baffle her consort Osiris j 

While thunder and lightning 

Sleuth-hound the doomed plain. 

Thence sing the innumerable swarm 
Of locusts ; the dire sand storm 
Chamsin, that giveth alarum 
Of jah's assault on ra ; 



236 THE PLEROMA. 

So die Mncean snake ! 

The wraith of doom shall slake 

His wrath on the first born, ere break 

Of day ! 



The hymn of the Hebrews, girded and shod, 
Lintel and door-post sprinkled with blood ; 
Warn'd by the prophet of jahveh, their God : 
Angel of jahveh, spare we implore thee ! 

Witness our faith in the paschal here slain ; 
Drear is our vigil, spare we adore Thee ! 

Dawn, blessed dawn, shall we see thee again ? 

Merciful marvel ! jah passeth by ; 

But Egypt, O Egypt, alas for thy woe ! 
Keep we this exodus jahveh for aye ; 

Importunate Egypt hastes us to go. 

THE DEMONS. 

Satan rages ; damns the mages, 

And their sorcery ; 
Dare we do it ? Shall we rue it 

If we jah defy ? 
Satan curseth and he nurseth 
Vengeance in his breast ; 
Egypt eschews jahveh's Hebrews j 
The cuckoo cleans its nest. 
Away, or stay, rebel, obey ; 
Have demons no volition ? 
Yon Hebrew horde invokes its lord, 

And fears no inhibition. 
Go leprous rout ; the vilest snout 

Rejects the crumbs ye leave ! 



THE BANDS. 237 

Pooh, pooh, adieu ! poor sickly crew ! 

Egypt should never grieve. 
O fie, O fie, how cowardly, 

The thieves rush on pell-mell ! 
Rise, rise, ye peers, and charioteers,, 

And doubly loose in hell ! 



The Eve of the Exodus, — a night of alarms ! 

A myriad myriad rising in arms ! 
A militant nation swarming apprise 
Of freedom. Thou Angel of jahveh arise ! 

Dusk messengers flit from the fringes of Tanis ; 

While populous On signals Abaris ; 

The crocodile sea, and the Baratha strand, 

Hear the whisper : " Hie, hie, from Pharaoh's land ! " 

Stream ! Stream ! nor bastion 'd Pelusium fear ; 

Jahveh hath pass'd over ; his prophets are near ; 
To Pithom, to Pithom, enmassing shall we 
By Rameses' coasts go forth by the sea. 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Forth unto Canaan, promised land and fair, 
The nucleating nation Moses leads ; 
Not by Philistia, the nearer way, 
Lest stout confrontment of their enemies 
Do find them limp in their enthusiasms — 
The easy prey to harness'd opposition : 
But Southward, turning to the bitter lakes, 
Halting at Succoth. Thence by bastion'd Etham ; 
Thence till they reach reedy Pihahiroth, 



238 THE PLEROMA. 

Whilst fun'ral rites in Egypt respite give 
The incongruent mass, — the more amazed 
The clamorous more ; meantime the soldiery 
In quint'ple rank is organiz'd. 

But lo, 
Unblench'd, doth Pharaoh rest the mournful dirge, 
To launch his chariots on the errant tribes ; 
His steeds, fierce-eyed and swift as are jackals, — 
Fusing the wilderness, — a hurricane blast. 

Be hush'd, O sea ! and peace, O Israel ! 
Jah's prophet turns ! let all the people hear ! 
Nay, see the mighty jahveh bare his arm, 
Till Egypt shall confess that He is Lord ! 

MOSES. 

The lord is my strength and my song ! 

Jahveh is His name. 

He dasheth in pieces the enemy ! 

In the greatness of his might he hath overtaken them : 

The floods stood up as a heap — the depths were con- 

geal'd. 
Thou blewest with thy nostrils and the sea covered them. 
The nations shall hear it and be amaz'd ; 
Anguish shall seize the men of Palestina ; 
The dukes of Edom and of Moab also ; 
The inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away ; 
And become still as a stone, while thy people pass over ; 
Until the people, Thou hast purchas'd, pass over, 
O jahveh ! 

THE .EONS. 

Write, sisters, write, the wonderful night ! 
Repeat if ye can the songs of delight, 



THE BANDS. 239 

When jahveh spake from the cloud, 

And a ransom'd nation vow'd 

Him fealty and faith evermore : 
When the East-wind sang, and the waters drang 
From the fords amain to the deeps again : 

" I will ope you a passage o'er ! " 

Write, sisters, write, the terrible night ! 
Describe, if ye can, the horrible fright ! 
When jahveh look'd from the cloud, 
And the sea became a shroud 

For a mailed host ; 
When the Atka spirits blew ; and demons flew ; 
While axles creak'd, and mud-fiends shriek' d : 

" Ye are lost, O ra, ye are lost ! " 

THE BANDS. 

Thrills us a gladness celestial ; 
Passing the paeans terrestrial ; 
Holy the fount we are drinking ; 
Canaan the hope we are linking 

With a nation born to-day. 
Couriers we greet divining, 
Eminent duties outlining, 

Till come the Messiah jahveh. 



CANTO VI. 

THE COURIERS. 
THE ARGUMENT. 

The ALons number the e?icampments from the Red Sea unto 
Sinai — Satan concedeth many things unto Jahveh — 
The Angels sing the "Eagle Wings" — The " Ten 
Great Words" are delivered from the awful mount 
— The evil powers riot in the defection of the Golden 
Calf — The march continued from Sinai — Satan 
resorteth to diabolical means to stay their progress 
— He inciteth Balak to send for Balaam — Moses ob- 
taineth a panoramic view of the Promised Land, and 
dies — Michael withstands Satan who seeketh to violate 
the holy tomb of Moses — Satan's cold, thin arm defieth 
the " God of Battles " — The Jordan is crossed, and 
the Canaanites are smitten with terror — The exploits of 
the Judges are sung by the sEons — The tribes clamor 
for a king before Samuel — Satan, knowing the futility 
of bloodshed, checks the martial spirit of his ministers — 
The God-fused Seminary of prophets is introduced by 
the Couriers — Samaria first, afterwards Jerusalem, 
carried away into the East j — Chebar's stream is the 
scene of Israel's captivity and prophetie visions — Jah- 
veh girdeth Cyrus for his purposes, who alloweth the 
Jews to return and to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem 
— Satan deployeth his agents, and exhausteth his wit to 
break down the integrity of the Jahveh worship ; yet 
the Messianic Hope shineth clear amid national misfor- 
tunes that befall the Jews. 
240 



THE COURIERS. 24 1 

THE .EONS. 

Number we, name we the Hebrew encampments, 

Earliest daughters of Time ! 
Follow the course of the journeying Jahvites 

Hence unto Horeb sublime ; 

Marah, three days in the wildness of Etham, 
Over the bleachen and calcinate road ; 
Painfully passing, panting, and pausing, 
Madden'd with thirst and muttering ill. 
Marvel of marvels ! Marah is sweeten'd ! 
If Barberry be, or nameless the plant, 
Jahveh is the Tree that hath healed thee. 

Elim of wells, the notable twelve, 
And palms, its threescore and ten. 

" Hark ye, the winds from the red reeking shore, 
Hence to the mountains ! ye breathe me no more ! " 
Dophkah, thence alush, o'er the chaos of hills ; 
Into the mountains, the cloud-Angel wills 
To rephidim, rest, and the tower of jehovah. 

Multitudes sing of the quails jahveh sent them, 
Faint from their flight o'er the wide reedy sea ; 
Coveting rest and most easily taken. 
Thence of the manna, bread rain'd from heaven, 
Gift of the tamarisk, and edible moss ; 
Far-blown and sweeten'd with dew of God's blessing. 
Circles shall sing of the Paradise number — 
Septenate week with the manna new given ; 
Limits shall tell of the rock of contention, 
Marveling the gush of the crystalline streams. 
16 



242 THE PLEROMA. 

THE DEMONS. 

Esau's sons are doubtful neighbors ; 

Sons of Seir are churlish sulks ; 
Which is nobler ? which is braver ? 

Open foe, or one that skulks ? 
Amalek is Edom's covering ; 

Amalek is Edom's bait ; 
Quaff we health these thirsty Jahvites ; 

Quaff aside to Edom's hate. 

SATAN. 

Persuasive courtiers, cozening our fancy — 
Constraining unto dalliance with reason, 
And open combat with Jehovah's arms ; 
Attend ! For ere the closure of this grave 
Synod, your prince would speak you cautions. 

Lo, 
These dual centuries sit we upon 
This silent mount, aloof the vale of Siddim, 
In rapt excogitations ; leasing the while 
Yon tenements and territories far 
And near, our own authority abeyant. 
Time suffers not the secrecies explor'd ; 
The occult spring of elemental laws — 
The quiv'ring shore, psycho-material, 
That feels the surge of other worlds remote — 
The potent influence not unlike to sleep, 
Falling on us and all the sensuous spheres, 
While softly rose upon our gaze, visions 
Of metaphysic worlds impress'd in time. 
Suffice to hear the sequent argument : 

Jehovah is confest omnipotent 
In the domain of cosmic force. In vain 
We battle 'gainst his mineral cohorts ; 



THE COURIERS. 243 

The cyclic energies are pliant to 

His touch ; cohesions and antagonisms ; 

Therewith the lustrous magnetisms concur. 

He drives the powers that pull the world, and He 

May ride tandem for aught that Satan lists. 

Again Jehovah is confest omnipotent 
Within the sphere psycho-ethereal ; 
Wherefore in trans-material fields engage 
We not. 

And still, O subtile augurs of 
Our vantage, know, that neither el Almighty, 
Nor jahveh, worshipp'd as His Immanence, 
Presides within the cosmo-mental world : 
Oh, here saw we our righteous throne uprear'd. 
Whilst ev'ry child of Adam did obeisance — 
Mankind our realm, more than material ; 
Mankind our pride, more than ethereal ; — 
O Man ! our glory ! twain world's interlac'd i 

These things intent, heard we melodious echoes 
Beating against the sentient bounds, resounds 
Of angel songs in Heav'n, praising the Name 
And Incarnation of pleroma-jah. 
Then flash'd upon the dubitating mind, 
At once, a star that led the way unto 
The pastures over Bethlehem. O what 
Apocalypse had been, yourselves conceive ! 
The august wonder broke amidst, and dropt 
Me back to Time (the scheme of Heav'n possess'd). 

Wherefore, O Peers, ye pass belligerent, 
Not foolishly to fight against sheer force, 
Nor openly to strive with jAHVEH-God ; 



244 THE PLEROMA. 

(So were ye fire-bugs fighting with the Sun) 

Nor to molest the wings of dainty seraphs — 

But all, by indirection, so to name, 

Do ye achieve our end sagaciously. 

Behold these Jahvites in their wanderings 

Toward Canaan ; their appetites afrlict'd ; 

Their lusts inflam'd, chaff'ring betimes with doubts ; 

Despondent ; murmuring against their God ; 

Here is a field ripe for your sorcery ; 

Go mingle wormwood with their manna ; chafe 

Their foes hereditary ; bait their camps 

With seances and silly nullities. 

Betimes, the demons as auxiliar, 

Sport ye such interludes digressively. 

Yet know the marrow of our enterprise 

Is hid in the prophetic name — jahveh. 

Against this Name we aim the poison'd arrows 

Of our hatred. The Incarnation, know, 

No devil shall believe, allow, nor think ; 

This Messianic Hope is man's delusion ! 

Each man 's his own Messiah who lives his nature ; 

And Lucifer the Joshua of men 

Rescu'd a fate more trist than Egypt's kilns. 

THE iEONS. 

The rod ! the rod ! the conquering rod ! 
Jehovah the banner, jehovah the God ! 

He hath bared his arm ; 

He hath stricken alarm ; 

The mighty hath sworn, 

And Agag is shorn 
Of strength and of name evermore. 
Hail Jochebed's son ! Hail Aaron and Hur ! 



THE COURIERS. 245 

For Ephraim's soldier is Paran's victor ; 
And the Invisible goes before. 

THE ANGELS. 

" On eagle wings," the choral sings, 
" On eagle wings jehovah brings 

His little ones unto Sinai " : 
Ah, ragged nest ! Ah, jagged crest ! 
Shall jahveh's little ones find rest 

Upon yon dread eyrie ? 

They weep and wail ; they quake and quail ; 
The stoutest hearts are limp and pale ; 

Jehovah passeth by. 
The mountains quiver ; the valleys shiver ; 
Thick clouds and tempests overtake ; 

Jehovah draweth nigh ! 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Thrice hath this congress of the tribes heeding 
The prophet's warning, sanctified itself. 
When as at morning watch, We pass'd this way 
Alarm'd the Israelites like dead twigs fell 
To Earth, until the chariot-cloud roll'd by, 
And nature consentaneous still'd on Oreb. 

Arise, O awestruck, fearful multitude ! 

Quit ye the camp and follow your great chief ! 

In cautious sequence gain the nether mount ; 

Strictly forewarn'd ye 'tempt not to ascend, 

What time ye see the elders pass within 

The lum'nous cloud into jehovah's Presence. 



246 THE PLEROMA. 

THE ANGELS. 

God's altar lifts, mid fiery rifts ! 

The lightnings leap from peak to peak ! 
Set bounds, gaze not, invoke not doom ! 

JEHOVAH-God descends to speak ! 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

With voice unanimous the people answer : 
" All that Jehovah God hath said this day — 
The ten great words from Sinai uttered 
In our astonied ears : and all therewith 
By Moses cited in the Cov'nant Book — 
Or duties due toward God, or meet toward men 
These will we keep, and do, and be obedient ; 
Jehovah will we worship, and will serve 
None other god but Him and Him alone." 

Therefore the congregation Moses seals, 
Baptizing them in crimson drops of blood ; 
Wherefore upon this altar I do now 
Record My Name : — " jehovah Israel." 
In token of this covenant, renew'd 
On Sinai, el sendeth His own Angel 
To keep them and to guard them in the way : 
To bring them duly to the land forepledg'd. 
Him shall we hear, for in Him is God's Name — 
The fulness and glory of pleroma. 
If from the cloud He speak, or mediately 
By seer or priest ; by Urim and Thummim — 
(The Yea and Nay of Heav'n significant) ; 
Hear ye and do all He shall so reveal. 
For when the Aleim's Angel goes before, 



THE COURIERS. 247 

Terror shall seize God's enemies and yours — 
Hivite and Hittite, and the Canaanite. 

I am jehovah god that brought thee forth, 

The land of Egypt, from the house of slaves. 

Behold have I not talk'd with you from heav'n ? 

And warn'd ye make with Me no gods of silver? 

Nor that ye make you molten gods of gold ? 

One is your god, jehovah ! Serve ye Him J 

THE SEVENTY ELDERS. 

O Ineffable 
Jehovah Israel ! 
Who shall repeat 
Under His feet 
How the unthinkable 
Pavement of sapphire 

Seem'd when we saw him ? 
O moment of terror ! 
O infinite Mirror ! 
When Ave gazed and beheld 
In jehovah revealed 

The face of aleim ! 

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. 

Alas, the fatuity 
That worships vacuity ! 
Ah, vague Infinity — 
An unseen Deity ! 

In thickest darkness stood, 

Showing no similitude. 
We are undone ! 
Our chief is gone : 
Up, up, Aaron ! 



248 THE PLEROMA. 

Make us gods to go before ; 
Likenesses we may adore, 
Else turn we back to Egypt. 

THE DEMONS. 

Ho, ho, a ^m^ presto ! 

*T will choke our prince to know 

That the Jahvites so soon, 

With their high-priest Aaron, 

Ere the sound dies away, 

Of the Words of Jahveh, 

Have set up a calf — 

An Egyptian calf ! 

(The sphinx needs must laugh )- 
And with adulterous eyes 
They do sacrifice 

To the Elohim ! 

MOSES. 

O blot them not from thy book ! 

And stay, I beseech thee, the plague ! 
If thou go not with this people, 

I faint in my office dismay'd ! 

THE PLEROMA JEHOVAH. 

Moses, thou has found favor in My sight, 
Therefore My Presence shall go up with thee, 
And I will give thee rest. Behold I put 
Thee in this mountain cleft and screen thee with 
My hand, while I pass by ; then shalt thou see 
Jehovah elohim, the merciful, 
Abundant in goodness and truth. Is 't not 



THE COURIERS. 249 

A mighty thing and terrible I do ? 

For ye shall spoil the altars of the nations, 

And beat to sherds all their idolatries. 

Jehovah is your God, whose name is Jealous. 

Hence, ye shall do respect unto My Sabbaths ; 

The triple offerings ; and reverence 

My sanctuary ; I am your God, jehovah. 

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. 

We bring our gifts to thee willingly ; 
Thy words have touch'd us thrillingly ; 

O the seat of the Cherubim ! 

In the Holy Place ; 

God shall show His face, 

And His will make known 

To His priest Aaron. 
Haste Uri's son, thy work begin ! 
Fashion the Tent in the wisdom God sent thee ; 
Cov'rings hang with the cunning He lent thee ; 
Using these jewels, the gift of the women — 
Silver, and gold, and costlier brass — 
Fabrics of blue and purple and scarlet ; 
Dyed-skins and goat's hair and finest of linen. 
Therewith a dower for the robes of the Priesthood ; 
Stones for the ephod, and breastplate and mitre — 
Haste Bezaleel with the wise men to aid thee, 
Building the Shrine and the Ark jahveh bade thee. 

the bands. 

Far-sighted Couriers, prophet-glances ! 
Tryst of cov'nant Bands entrances ; 

Whilst with purest inspiration 

Ye infuse the Hebrew nation. 



250 THE PLEROMA. 

First, revealing God as Power — Eloah j 
Thence as Goodness — dower of Pleroma ; 
Next, in mitred " Holiness unto Jehovah" 
Blent with Justice in the sanctions of the law. 

THE ANGELS. 

The priests are anointed ; the elders appointed ; 
The Covenant renew'd ; false idols eschew'd : 
The Tabernacle rear'd, as the Pattern appear'd 

To Moses in the Mount. 
The Ark is enshrin'd ; the Holies defin'd ; 
The furniture placed, and coverings laced ; 
The offerings made whilst worship is paid 

Jehovah of the Mount. 

O marvel to Moses ! jehovah discloses 

Within the Shrine His Glory Divine ! 

Lo, he falls to adore Thee, and quaketh before Thee, 

Thou Angel of the Cloud ! 
Now Levite and Priest the memorial feast, 
With reverent rite, prepare in the night ; 
While the fire-glowing cloud lifts skyward its shroud ; 
And a voice cries aloud, 

" Wake trumpet and song ! Let the tribes journey on ! 
Jehovah goes in the Cloud ! " 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Perfervid Couriers (chafing the Law's 
Delay, and Sinai's tented year), behold 
Six hundred myriads able to war 
In Israel — the same a crowd of serfs 
This time a twelvemonth, out of bondage loos'd ; 
But now become a nation. Mark their array ! 



THE COURIERS. 2*>\ 

The quintuple rank and soldierly respect 
To word and to authority. Ask them 
What of the god's of Egypt ? and they cry, 
" All elilitn ! All elilim are they ! 
Jehovah is the True and only God — 
Invisible, yet near — filling all things ; 
The Lord and Ruler of all things — Adonc:\ 
Jehovah Sabaoth, mighty in battle ! " 

Subdue this access of your zeal, the whi] ? 
Ye do their march to Canaan prevene ; 
For far and long the multitudinous line 
Winds slow and painfully. In Paran's waste 
Bid them to rest, erect their darkly tents 
Against the stainless splendors of the sky ; 
And screen the haggard hills. 

Ah week of woes ! 
Burdens for Moses ; temptings for jahveh ! 
What loathing of the food miraculous ! 
What strife of Aaron, and his more seditious 
Sister, jealous of the Cushite wife. 
Record therefore jehovah's signal wrath ; 
The flame that swept consuming through the camp ; 
The leprosy heal'd by a brother's prayer ; 
Nor fail to sum the one and twenty journeys 
To Kadesh Barnea : nor thence the names 
Of the twelve chiefs that went to search the land 
Of Canaan. 

MOSES. 

Ye are come to the mount of the Amorites, 

Which el jehovah shall give to you ; 

Behold, He hath spread the land before your eyes ; 



252 THE PLEROMA. 

Up, up, possess it as jahveh hath commanded ! 
Neither fear ye, nor be ye dismayed ! 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Herewith indite the princes twelve return'd 
From Canaan's search : " A land of milk and honey,' 
Unanimously told, with ruddy cheeks, 
And nectar-dripping lips ; "A goodly land " ; 
Displaying of its fruits excerpted samples, — 
Pomegranates, figs, and grapes of Eschol's vale. 
" Exceeding good it is," Caleb adjoins ; 
" And if jehovah do delight in us, 
He will bring us thither and give it us." 
Thereto one voice agrees, and notable, 
Of Nun's heroic son, presyllabled 
By Moses "Joshua." Thou dost divine 
O Gabriel, the mystery therein 
Prenominate ; whilst Messianic fervors 
Fly through earth, and sky, till this sad star 
Gloweth (impalpably to human sense), 
And ev'ry choir in the pneumatic realm 
Quicken its dense libration to the coasts 
Of Palestine ; glancing the while yon hill 
Of Jebus and environs eminent, 
Enwrapt in radiance of the Plero?7ie. 

" In vain ! In vain ! " the recreant ten resume ; 
" Here in the Negeb deem we Israel blest ; 
Past'ring our flocks Arabah's fertile vales. 
Wherefore shall we attempt 't ? to fall before 
The Anakim ; our wives and little ones, 
Become the sport of gibborim, 'gainst whose 
Fierce giantry we be as grasshoppers 
Assailing eagles." 



THE COURIERS. 253 

THE DEMONS. 

Here 's a swig to Israel ! 
Pooh, pooh, Jahvites ! 
Dread yon Canaanites ? 

What Of JAHVEH EL ? 

Braggarts all, fickle and craven, 
Paralyz'd to find your haven 

Fortified with limestone clods ; 

In the keep of hateful gods ! 
By Zephath's tower learn ye to cower 

Before the sturdy Baalim ; 

E'en curse your Elohim, 
And doubt in Hormah jehovah's Power ! 

SATAN. 

By our imperial will do ye resume 
Consult, extraordinary and august, 
On Pisgah's top, — co-anarchs eminent ; 
Meanwhile, in neighb'ring glens the sportive sprites 
Practise their archeries upon the front 
Of Engedi, from Sport's alembic drunk. 
Good speed these nimble waifs ! cheer to their minds ! 
Lo eight and thirty years, since turn'd aback 
From Kadesh' sacred camp on Canaan's rim, 
The errant Jahvites unto Akabah — 
Accurst of el jahveh, in riotous 
Dismay, — rest they not day nor night to spread 
Dissension 'mong the tribes ; seeding their hearts 
With Melancholy's parasite ; scooping 
Them shallow graves in Arabah — empire 
Of jackals. 



254 THE PLEROMA. 

Anew the couriers flit and flare, 
Dazing our throne with lore extravagant 
Of diabolic vantage over Israel ; 
Provoking Heav'n in devilish insolence ; 
Blaspheming el's great name ineffable ; 
His sabbaths violated, leaders, priests, 
Denounc'd and abrogated. Thence, Koran's — 
Abiram's, fate, with fifteen myriad more 
In charr'd and lumpy burial ; others 
Engulf'd a shrieking morsel in Earth's bowels. 
Thence Aaron's magic rod, that budded first, 
Next, blossom'd and forthwith ripened almonds, 
Colossal marvel ! seen within the Shrine. 
Next, the insipid seeds that fell from heav'n, 
Grown nauseous between their muttering lips 
Ev'n as they crunch them. Beastly idiocy ! 
And cry : "We die, We perish " — fat as bullocks ; 
Till Moses patience broke at Meribah, 
And he and his whole house with him debarr'd 
The land of promise. In Kadesh next we hear 
Of Miriam's death, 'mid pompous rites interr'd, 
And gen'ral sorrow : then Aaron forewarned 
Of his demise, clomb Hor's lone height and look'd 
Upon the hills of Canaan, sighing long, 
Until his life went forth in sighs upon 
His first-born's breast, where fell his robes 
Pontifical by God's decree. The rites 
Funereal dismiss'd, direct do livelier hours 
Reprieve the tiresome dole : for, from the brook 
Of Zered ever w T atchful imps evok'd, 
With their weird sorcery, a frightful wave 
Of serpents fiery, that swept the tented plain ; 
And left behind a sea of writhing flesh. 



THE COURIERS. 255 

So they report ; but -rather do we name 
This last a tale of jahveh's interludes ; 
Since by his fiat Moses lifts aloft 
A brazen coil, whereat the plague abates. 

But heed our new resolve ; the act flames out ! 
The Jahvites teem ; surge, and on Edom crowd ; 
The pop'lous tribes rally on rushing Arnon's 
Tremendous brink, defining Moab's limits ; 
Nor grim defiance of proud Esau's sons — 
Nor Lot's mountainous clans intimidate ; 
Whilst rumor, hoarse, affrights the dukes of Seir, 
Nay, Pisgah's threaten'd, and our sec'lar throne. 
Wherefore our next solstitial synod 's 
Too late remov'd the case immediate. 
This seat must we evacuate, or front 
Jehovah. Hither drives the van-Angel ! 
Wherefore this parliament do we prorogue, 
Dismissing each with our fraternal kiss. 
Ye Gods of Canaan, and Syria, farewell ! 
Your Prince dismisseth you reluctantly ; 
Bright lustres all — S/iamas, and Kabbiri 7 
Withdraw ye to your stations, nor suspect 
Our plan, if undisclos'd. We are not blind. 
Have we not seen the cursed Jahvites dip 
Their jars into the royal wells of Bashan ? 
O ghostly summoners ! O passions dire ! 
Now deathless fires e'en to our foot-stool burn. 
And scorch this adamantine throne. Away ! 
Enough ! Ye hate the seed of Abraham ! 
Let Hate then be your teacher when ye war. 
The locusts swarm the south and threaten to 
Devour the earth. 



256 THE PLEROMA. 

The Song of Jair and of Nobah, Princes of Manasseh : 

O sing unto jehovah who hath gone forth to victory ! 

The God of Israel is a mighty man in battle : 

The Ark went before, the priests and trumpeters followed 

after ; 
The trumpets sounded, the archers and slingers stood still; 
The name in the cloud pass'd by. They look'd, 
Behold the enemy fled ; Sihon the destroyer fled ; 
In the treadings of the mountains he fainted ; 
The flower of Heshbon fainted for thirst. 
As a hart they lapp'd for water where none was. 
The fire burn'd, the fire of jehovah at Jahaz ; 
The inhabitants of Moab melted like wax away. 

Then said the five dukes unto Balak : 
Thou hast heard the enchantments of the great prophet ? 
Surely jehovah shall not withstand the curses of Balaam ! 
Nevertheless the princes of Midian are no more ; 
And Balaam, even Balaam, who loved the wages of un- 
righteousness, 
And tempted the sons of Israel, perished in his sin ; 
They all perished, in one day they perished ; 
And jehovah gave their jewels and flocks to His people. 

Then turn'd we and went up by the way of Bashan ; 
And Gog, the long-neck'd, led forth his mighty men ; 
In the straits of Edrei we encountered him. 
Then said jehovah : Fear him not, for I have delivered 

him into thine hand ! 
Then smote we Og until there was none remaining to him ; 
Threescore cities took we in the region of Argob : 
And unwalled towns a multitude, from Arnon unto 

Hermon. 



THE COURIERS. 2$7 

And I, Jair, the son of Manasseh, took the cities of Argob, 
Unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maacha : 
Wherefore it shall be call'd Bashan-havoth-yair — 
For pleasant are its villages in the eyes of jah. 
And I, Nobah, shall be clothed with royalty ; 
Clothed in green shall I sit in the gates of Kenath. 

THE ANGELS. 

The shout of a king is among them ! What hath God 

wrought ? 
As a lion Jacob lifts himself ! What hath God wrought ? 
The alien seer falleth, he falleth with open eyes ; 
He seeth the Almighty, beholdeth Him in a trance. 
" How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob ; Ye are the lign- 

aloes ; 
Which jehovah by waters planteth — the lign-aloes. 
We shall see Him, but not now, — jehovah ! 
He shall come as a star out of Jacob — adcnai ! 
And His shall be the sceptre of Israel — pleroma ! 
And blessed is he that blesseth thee, O Israel ! 
And cursed is he that curseth thee, O Jacob ! " 

THE CIRCLES. 

We hymn the praise of Amram's son, 

And sing his name afar ; 
We weave him garlands ev'ry one, 

And deck the victor's car ; 
We taste again our Paradise ; 

O wherefore do we live ? 
Wherefore, O Lord? Still veil our eyes, 

And plead for his reprieve. 
Thou say'st, " The circle is complete ; 

Thy plan in him fulfill'd " ; 

17 



258 THE PLEROMA. 

Thy will be done. So wind his feet ; 
It is as Thou hast will'd. 

We take alarm, O sacred Name ! 

Death in us lives again ; 
Man's Paradise affrays yon flame — 

It is his foe, Satan ! 
And wherefore com'st, O curse of Heav'n ? 

Tempter and prince of ill ? 
Hail, glories of the ethereal Seven ! 

Haste on, O Michael ! 

MICHAEL. 

Jahveh rebuke thee, Lucifer ! How changed ! 
Whose ancient throne was glorious and noble ! 
Dost think to war upon the dead ? And vow'st 
No requiem shall be sung to Moses' dust ? 
Behold Michael ! prince of the militant — 
I sent'nel am to guard this sepulchre ; 
I charge thee, crafty one, and all thy crew, 
If onset mak'st to rape this holy tomb, 
Thou and thy reprobates shall taste, shall — 
Thou hear'st my voice ! Thou see'st my lance ! I am 
Jehovah's messenger ; I thee defy ! 
To curse I am forbid, but not to challenge. 

THE DEMONS. 

The grave is watch'd by el's Angel ; 

Satan outmatch'd by Michael ; 

We too are scotch'd, demon and devil : 

Drink fire and fly ! 

Drink fire and die ! 



THE COURIERS. 259 

SATAN. 

This mock'ry of my demons harsher meets 
Mine ear than doth the taunt of the archangel ; 
Once Satan had not brook'd these braggart cries ! 
But subtle world-studies have drain'd his sinews, 
Though they distend the psychic hemispheres. 
Let dolts and dotards reckon as they list, 
Wherefore Satan attempted Moses' tomb ! 
It was experiment worthy success ; 
For on the event a nation's fate did hang. 
Gecko ! with Satan's wit and Moses' mask 
To cover it, crave we no odds Jehovah. 
O ho ! a resurrection 't were to spoil 
The earth of future marvels. 

The lights are low ; 
The action dismal and unearthly. Aheu, 
Jehovah is in truth a man of war ! 
Then Satan thou shalt be a man of cunning ! 
Thy cold, thin arm defy the God of battles. 
Thy feints and artifices shall defraud 
His saintliest, and gall their victories. 
Pisgah farewell ! We cross with Joshua this Jordan. 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Arise, O Joshua, this Jordan cross ! 
Thou and the Congregation to the land 
Which I do give to them. 

Hail, aural voices : 
" From Jordan's meadows and this Lebanon, 
Hence to the populous Euphrata's heaths, 
And westward where the sea receives the sun, 
There shall not any man resist their arm." 



26o THE PLEROMA. 

With thee I am as I with Moses was. 

Divin'st the rapture of the Couriers ? 

That sing One to arise in Israel — 

Jahveh immanuel ? 

Prepare, prepare, 

And make ye ready ! For within three days 

Shall Jacob's sons go over to possess 

The land which jahveh aleim giveth them. 

Thus shalt thou say the priests that bear the Ark, 
" Hither and hear the words of jah your God — 
The Living God is here, e'en jehovah — 
The Lord of all the Earth ; and passeth on 
Before you over Jordan." 

THE CANAANITES. 

If we cry to Baal, will he answer us ? 
If we offer our first-born, will he hear ? 
Is not el the Strong ? and Eliun the exalted ? 
Doth he not rule the great ones of Molech ? 
Doth the mother forget her offspring, Astarte ? 
And why is thy glory darken'd, O Shemesh ? 
Ye that dwell with the father of waters, awake ! 
Ye that sleep in the bosom of Sharon arise ! 
For the Anakim quake in their towers ; 
And the Amorites faint in their cities. 
Philistia, Philistia, to thy chariots and shields ! 
For jehovah hath dried up the Jordan, 
And the Jahvites pass over dry shod. 

THE COURIERS. 

Flashes of light gleam in the night ! 
Couriers turn from the horrible sight ; 



THE COURIERS. 26 1 

Satan as Baal defraudeth the kings ; 
Hideous effigies Canaan brings 

To meet the Ark of the Lord. 
O the glint, the glint of the knives of flint ! 

On the bloody Hill of Foreskin ; 
The Covenant renew'd, the false gods are eschew'd, 

And jehovah is their Captain ; 
Lo, He standeth with drawn sword ! 
Write, ^Eons, write the song we indite, 
Of Jericho's wall and its marvelous fall ; 

And the fame that accrued to jahveh. 
Thence the son of Carmi, and curse on the army 

Of Joshua that march'd against Ai. 
Of the lie and the lot that traced out the blot 

And wiped it in Achor from earth ; 
How the fruit of the land grew ripe to the hand, 
With the Manna withdrawn at the taste of the corn, 

That was parch'd upon Canaan's hearth. 

THE CIRCLES. 

We sing Gilgal— the " Circle "— 
And its twelve memorial stones ; 

The Covenant and the Paschal, 
By the twelve memorial stones. 

We sing the hill of Ebal 

And its unpolluted stones ; 
The Law-engraven altar 

Of the twelve unbroken stones. 

We sing the craft of Gibeon, 

And the league wilily won ; 
The oath of the five fierce princes 

To war upon Gibeon. 



262 THE PLEROMA. 

How the harvest queen arose, 

While the king on Gibeon stay'd ; 

How the circles twain in heaven 
Stood still as they were bade : 

Till the sanguinary circle 
Had reft the sons of Baal ; 

And the hosts of Joshua 

Regain'd the camp in Gilgal. 

THE LIMITS. 

Thou mournest thy bravest, O Jabin ! 

Cursing, nursing thy wrath upon Israel ; 

Where, where are the Anakim ? 

And ye plains of Chinneroth, 

Where are thy sons innumerable ? 

All crush'd, all brush'd as a moth 

Away unto far Zidon. 

Yea, the wadys and waters of Dor 

Are bloody and ruddy with gore ; 

And the flames of Hazor 

Are a watch and a torch unto Hermon. 

Write ^Eons the three and thirty kings ! 

The first on the East from Arnon to Hermon ; 

Thence the West from Seir unto Lebanon ; 

All notable names of the nations. 

Whilst the coast we mark out for the tribes, 

As the servant of jahveh divides, 

For their lot and their habitations. 

A VOICE. 

Behold, Joshua waxeth old and stricken : 
And shortly goes the way of all the earth. 



THE COURIERS. 263 

Therefore he calleth for the tribal chiefs ; 

At Shechem sendeth for the elders ; and saith ; 

" Ye have seen all that jehovah your God hath done, 

How that He hath driven out for you your enemies ; 

Behold I have divided you the nations that remain, 

Be very courageous to keep the Book of the Law, 

And come ye not among these idolatrous nations, 

Nor make ye mention of their abominations. 

Thus saith jehovah — the God of Israel : 

' Your fathers dwelt beyond the flood, 

And there served they the false aleim ; 

And I took Abram your father and led him forth, 

And multiplied his seed in Canaan. 

And I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac, Jacob and Esau ; 

To Esau gave I mount Seir ; but Jacob I took into 

Egypt : 
Then sent I Moses and Aaron and plagued Pharaoh ; 
And afterward I brought your fathers out, 
Putting darkness between them and the Egyptians. 

So ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season ; 

When I gave the Amorites into your hands ; 

And ye came to Jericho, which I gave into your hands. 

And I gave you a land for which ye did not labor ; 

And cities to dwell in — which ye builded not.' 

" Now therefore choose this day whom ye will serve ! 
Whether the gods beyond the flood, or of the Amorites ? 
For as for me and my household we will serve jehovah ! " 

THE PRINCES OF THE TRIBES. 

Nay, but we also will serve jehovah. 



264 THE PLEROMA. 

JOSHUA. 

Ye are witnesses against yourselves ! 

THE PRINCES. 

We are witnesses. 

SATAN. 

Chough ! Chough ! This is no raven's note I hear. 
A meaner bird flies by ; a fouler throat ! 
Thy croak I know, thy caw — lone-flying courier ! 
Ho, monster among fiends ! Thou com'st, dread son 
Of Chemosh ? What tidings from the chariots ? 

" They are burnt and the horses are hough'd ; 
Overcome at the waters of Merom ; 
And the coasts divide the Jahvites ! " 

Thou liest ! I Canaan rule a thousand years ! 
With me my faithful princes. For Jahveh 
Hath won no land to portion out his flock ! 
We give empire, but give what is our own. 
Jahveh hath yet no Canaan to divide. 
Haste back, and through the vale of Sharon speed, 
And 'gainst the upper coasts, lifting the cry 
Of Baal : 

" Up, up, for Baal hath awoke ! 

Forge ranks of steel and knived chariots ; 

Retake the sunny vales of Canaan ! 

Each titular god and local deity, 

Shall go before and war on Jahveh's hosts." 

So do I trust to end this piecemeal work ! 
I will have peace, and to this end do I 



THE COURIERS. 26$ 

Provoke fresh war. Our archons all, alike 
The general tribe, do dear and dote fore'er 
On muscular encounters, jousts of arms ! 
O for one kindred spirit, that I might 
Unlock the language of the psychic world — 
The inner and essential sphere ! " Patience ! " 
Good monitor, we are its very soul ; 
Its privy pattern. And we stay to win. 
One day's respite to wine and women giv'n, 
More souls shall ruin among the Jahvites than 
A hundred battles. 

THE iEONS. 

Write, sisters, write the Exploits of the Judges ! 
Whom Jahveh rais'd up to avenge their oppressors , 
The tears shed at Bochim by the Angel's denounce- 
ment ; 
Of princes and people that forsook jehovah. 
Of Aram's high king and his eight years' oppression ; 
Of Othniel next and the days of probation ; 
Of Eglon the Moabite prince that subdued them, 
Till Ehud's feign'd errand and dagger betray'd him. 
Of the ox-goad of Shamgar, and the slain of Philistia : 
Of Deborah and Barak and the heroic Jael : 
Next the prevalent hand of the Midianite on them, 
Whilst they crouch'd in the clefts and caves of the moun- 
tains 
Till the Angel cloth'd Gideon with courage undaunted, 
Whose warriors the brooklet elected three hundred ; 
And taught them the ruse of the trumpet and pitchers ; 
Of the panic and rout of Zeba, Zalmunna ; 
Last, the ephod of Gideon, the snare to his household. 



266 THE PLEROMA. 

Write the license that f ollow'd ; and pollutions of worship, 
When anarchy reign'd and no rulers restrain'd them. 
How Jephthah, freebooter, brought out as their captain, 
Disperseth the Ammonite from Aroer to Minnith ; 
Of his terrible vow and his woe unrelentless. 
Of the angel that came to the wife of Manoah ; 
And the Nazarite's birth — the thirteenth from Joshua ; 
Of his strength in his locks and his sanguinous record. 

Relieve ye the page with the tale of Naomi, 
And the Moabite maid, happy mother of Obed, 
Whom she bore unto Boaz her legaliz'd kinsman, 
Whilst the aureole full'd o'er the altar in Shiloh, 
And the angels repeated prophetical words. 
Now cease, for the Couriers brighten ; their theme 
Is the last of the Judges and first of the Prophets : 
So list, ye their song, and its future relations, 
Save one note reminding the trist fate of Eli. 

THE COURIERS. 

Now flame we and fly unto Shiloh, 
And whisper God's will to the seer ; 

More clearly than Urim and Thummim 
His word and commandment appear. 

We hail thee, O child of Elkanah ! 

The last of the judges art sent ; 
And forthwith in Shiloh and Ramah 

The priest and the prophet are blent. 

Dost weep for the glory departed ? 

For the Ark in the Philistines' hand ? 
Thou shalt bring them to Mizpeh repenting, 

And jahveh shall ransom the land. 



THE COURIERS. 26? 

Next the elders shall counsel a kingdom, 

The rule theocratic reject ; 
Fear thou not ! Erst, the monarch portraying, 

Anoint thou the one We select. 

And comfort thy soul with the promise, 

Ere thou go to thy fathers to rest, 
Thou shalt see and declare a Messiah, 

In whose Son all the Earth shall be blest. 

SATAN. 

Wash we our hands these Jehovistic wars ! 
O Nature weeps the ruthless myriads slain ! 
Behold the ground season'd with gore and rank ! 
Ev'n demons sicken at the spectacle, 
Calling on Jahveh to withdraw his sword. 
So name these butcheries " Jehovah's Wars " ; 
For Satan's regiment is built on peace ; 
Confessedly our feud with Aleim's Son, 
By indirection, jostles, here and there, 
Mankind, — trivial concomitants for all 
The purpos'd good. O civilizing wars ! 

Yet are we not abas'd enough to fend ; 
For oft fault we our thralls and minions that 
They churn and foment strife with Israel, 
Blunting the edge of our recondite plans. 

We challenge Jahveh to arrest his zeal 
For blood, and yield the panting Jahvites space 
To breathe, and recreate in garden, and 
In grove ! 

Hail Baalim ! Ashera ! Rejoice ! 
The universal song confirms our wit ! 



268 THE PLEROMA. 

Ours, ours, in peace, if Jah's in war. Whence He 
Is predetermin'd unto wars perpetual ; 
Else shall the military faith exhaust ; 
And worship ancienter, the natural man 
More apposite, come in. 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

Now vaunteth Satan arch-hypocrisies, 
Fireth his forked tongue, and stings the air ; 
Breathing crass utterance against Our Name, 
And honor in these expurgating wars. 
Satan, thyself art war ! and strife ! and blood ! 
Thou art the head, the middle and the base 
Of the most direful urgency that calls 
On Us to save unto Ourselves a remnant from 
Mankind, in which all nations We may bless, 
By stern decrees and sanctions mem'rable, 
Until the Man of Peace arise to teach 
The better way. 

Hail Christo-Cosmic Choir ! 
Hail fourfold ministries of min'ral Earth ! 
Mark how in Samuel a further bound is pass'd 
Unto the Incarnation of pleroma. 
" Glory to the Highest, good will to men ! " 
And so Ye mix with earth and earth with Thee ! 
In intimate regards inhabit Israel ; 
The guiding thought reach onward, hastening 
Pleroma's goal, the christ of Christs — the man ! 

THE COURIERS. 

" A king ! A king ! " they cry, 
While the Airs proleptic fly, 



THE COURIERS. 269 

And tell of a kinglier One, 
Than Kish's or Jesse's son. 

How long ? how long ? O Lord ! 

" God save the king ! " they cry, 
As the mighty Saul draws nigh ; 

Still Samuel from his tears 

Pours out a cup of fears ; 

How long ? how long ? O Lord ! 

A stench, a stench ariseth ; 
The seer thy sin surmiseth ; 

Ah, woe, thou art rejected ; 

Thy better is selected ; 

Haste on, haste on, O king ! 

The shepherd boy 's anointed ; 
His brothers disappointed ; 

Defying David's God 

Goliath bites the sod ; 

Haste on, haste on, O king ! 

The " Bounds of blood " are pass'd ; 
The psalmist hears aghast 

The fate of the royal trio ; 

And sings the " Lament of the Bow." 
Haste on, haste on, O king ! 

Look up, behold the light ! 
Delectable and bright ! 

Awake the harp and song ! 

Messiah cometh on ! 

Haste on, haste on, O King ! 



270 THE PLEROMA. 

THE ARCHON DEMONS. 

Satan is stuff 'd with plaints ; 
Damneth our martial deeds ; 
Provoketh sorcery, 
And Endor's subtilty ; 
Seance and trance he leads. 
Still quaff we royal veins, 

Crimsoning Gilboa's side ; 
Forepledge to further war, 
And drink us drunk with gore. 

O prince, thou art defied ; 

(Hist, hist, his highness near ! ) 

Salute we Baal's name, 
Quaffing his health ; 
Learning his stealth ; 

Envy his world-wide fame. 

SATAN. 

The event is at the latch ; I know its stage. 
O Israel, thou art a seminary inspir'd ! 
Perceive this not our chiefs belligerent. 
Cease clam'rous world, that goadest to rashness ! 
Unpractis'd wit groweth to Leb'non's bulk : 
Oh, now, or never, match we the jahveh. 
Hold, archons ! from your bloody pastime stay ! 
Doth jahveh's " Darling " so incite to arms ? 

Hear ! Once his son — the " Man of Peace " shall reign 
On David's throne, uplift on Jebus' rock, 
(Else Zion called, the Mountain of jahveh), 
Forthwith (mark ye our prophecy) : Yon height 
Shall craze jahveh with its adulteries ; 
Baal shall build environs round about ; 



THE COURIERS. 2J\ 

Divinest wit and devilish lust shall wed ; 

Most lofty wisdom rot e'en to the core. 

Wherefore remaineth one and only way 

For jah to save a remnant to Himself : 

Assyria shall tell, and Babylon, 

Sometime, when whining Hebrews hang their harps 

On far Euphrata's tearful willows. 

The hour 
Draws on ; Satan sleeps not, nor slumbers. Tempests 
Gather, whose like ne'er felt ! Be warn'd ! be arm'd ! 
What omens in the psychologic field 
We deem not wise to tell ; what intimations 
Of the Messiah's birth unspoken be. 
Farewell a space ! With comrades few and brave, 
We go to fortify our rule in Earth, and bind 
In closer covenant remotest empires 'gainst 
Jehovah's Name and Worship. 

THE BANDS. 

So marvel the iEons the lore of the Line, 

While Bands call the links in the lineage Divine : 

First promis'd in Eden to the mother of men ; 

From the deluge restor'd in the household of Shem ; 

Thence call'd and defined of Abraham's seed, 

Whence the on-going line in Isaac we read. 

In Jacob divinely as " Israel " surnam'd, 

The leonine Judah his sceptre hath claim'd. 

O Root out of Jesse ! O Judasan king ! 

Interpret the things which thy psalmodies sing ; 

Of the kiss of the Son and the Rod out of Zion ; 

Of the brook in the way and the wound of the iron ; 

Of the Melchisedekian order restor'd, 

In Him whom thou callest both Son and thy Lord. 



272 THE PLEROMA. 



THE LIMITS. 



Line and compass take we, stake we borders wide for 
Israel : 

Throne 'gainst prophets striving, riving jahveh's name 
and Baal's ; 

Solomon prevaileth ; haileth guests from Tyre and Sidon ; 

Syria defeateth ; meeteth prosperously fierce Edom. 

Byblus and Berytus indite us measures, God-like meas- 
ures : 

Flow'ry isles vermilion guide to Tarshish' treasures. 

Far, far, in the cypress boat, 

Neath the heaven-pillars float 

To the silv'ry mount Tartessan. 

The " Man of Peace " is splendid, attended by a mighty 

band : 
Marriage bringeth treaties ; cities move on sea and land. 
India yieldeth beauties ; 
Syria payeth duties ; 

Egypt addeth splendor to palaces and temple, 
Dazzling all example. 
Glorious in counsel ; court magnifical ; 
Telling for the wise secrets wonderful ; 
Regal bounty yielding unto Sheba's queen. 
Till her spirit fainteth ere the half is seen. 
Son of David, Preacher, teacher of mankind ; 
Manifold endowments Heav'n in thee combin'd ; 
Ev'ry grace of body, ev'ry gift of mind ; 
Alas, O Anointed, great, great is thy sin ! 
Who points out the way but walks not therein ; 
For turning from jahveh and following Baal, 
Thy kingdom is rent in thy son over Israel. 



THE COURIERS. 2?3 

THE DEMONS. 

The trance, the trance, the purblind defiance 

Of the autocratic prince ! 
Do the northern tribes convince ? 
But too late, but too late ; 

Jeroboam's thron'd in Shechem. 
Up spirits, quaff to the golden calf 

Set up at Bethel and Dan ; 
Lo portents rise in prophetic eyes 

O'er the house of Jeroboam ! 

THE ANGELS. 

God sendeth his prophets ; wilt thou heed them, 

O Jeroboam ? 

Nay, nay, so the curse descends from Ahijah ! 

Weep, weep, for thy first-born Abijah ! 

God sendeth his prophets ; wilt thou heed them, 

O Rehoboam ? 

Nay, nay, so thy sin shall cost royal treasure. 

Atone, wretched vassal of Shishak its seizure ? 

God sendeth his prophets ; wilt thou heed them, 

O Nadab ? 
Nay, nay, Baasha and Elah attest it ; 
Nay, nay, both Zimri and Omri confess it. 
Woe, woe, for the frenzy and fire shall devour you ! 
Accursed of jahveh in Nebat ! 

Mourn, mourn, for the wrath of Jehovah o'erpowers you ! 
Weep Judah blest in Jehoshaphat ! 

God sendeth his prophets ; wilt thou heed them, 

O Ahab ? 
If Baal send false ones, dost thou feed them, 

18 



274 THE PLEROMA. 

O Ahab ? 
Thou withstandest Elijah ; dost thou well? 
Wilt thou compass his death, wicked Jezebel ? 
Nay, nay, the Almighty 'larms in the thunders ; 
Fills the earth and the sky with his wonders ; 
When the fire consumes Baal's priests ; 
And the seer calls rain on the wastes. 
And the people cry as the Angels alway, 
" Jahveh, He is God ; jahveh, He is God ! " 

THE COURIERS. 

Proud queen of the hills, Samaria ! 
Thou hast sinn'd ; shalt thou prosper for aye ? 
Ah, the Couriers hear the Assyrian say, 

" I saw, I seiz'd, I carried away." 

God remembered his covenant with Judah ; 

In Uzziah and the godly Hezekiah ; 

In Josiah and the penitent Manasseh ; 
While the heart of Samaria crimsons 
Far Gozan's stream and the leashes of Sargon. 

THE PLEROMA JAHVEH. 

The fulness yields enrapturing intimation ; 
And ecstasies enseize the band prophetic ; 
The furthest Thoughts of God now live in words. 
Let Couriers lead their God-fus'd prophet-choir ! 

Him first, repellant son of Amittai, 
From jahveh's face, embark'd unto Tarshish, 
Remote that Nineveh, his message doom'd ; — 
Cast in the sea, Messiah's type become ; 
Engulph'd, and three days hid beneath the world, 
uncorrupted sepulture. 



THE COURIERS. 275 

Forthwith, 
The son of Pethual blows his trump ; 

" O sanctify ! Thus saith jehovah — Lord : 

' Behold I pour My Spirit on all flesh, 
And cleanse their guilt ; for jah rememb'reth Zion.' " 

Next whom ye took from the Tekoan hills ; 
And mad'st a fire-brand for Hazael's house : 
Moab and Ammon, and the Philistines ; — 
Press'd like a cart beneath his load of woes 
He cries, 

" Yea surely will He nothing do 
But first He show his servants the prophets — 
The princess 's fall'n ; the star of Chiun set ; 
He will sift her as corn sift in a sieve, 
Ere jah bring the captivity again 
Of Israel." 

Him next, to Gomer wed, 
Diblaim's child from harlotry redeem'd — 
A parable of the Messiah's love ; 
When Israel redeem'd, Thee " Ishi " calls — 
(My husband) ; nor call Thee " Baal," (Master) more. 
Then will I drop as dew sweet after rain, 
And Israel bloom effulgent as the rose ; 
And strike his roots like Leb'non's lofty tree. 

Thence Amoz's gifted son ye do announce, 
Bending beneath his tragic, God-breath'd roll ; 
u All, all, is wrong ! " he cries : " The land is rife 
With charmers and diviners. The head is sick, 
The heart is faint. Except jahveh — Aleim 
Had left Himself a seed, we were as Sodom. 
Ah, mincing, tinkling daughters, wanton-eyed, 



276 THE PLEROMA. 

Spangled with cauls, with rounded tires and bonnets ; 

Your mantles, wimples, and your crisping pins, 

Jahveh shall take away ; and give you back 

Sackcloth for girdles ; burning for beauty, 

For Zion's haughty look shall be brought low ; 

Yea seven women seize one man and cry, 

' Thou shield us with thy name from our reproach ! ' 

Yet shall jehovah raise an ensign for 

The nations ; and a light to guide and cheer. 

For unto us a Child is born — a Son 

Is giv'n ; the Government His shoulders bear ; 

His name is Wonderful, the Counsellor ; 

The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father ; 

The Prince of Peace. The throne of David He 

Established^ forever ; His rest is glorious. 

" O Lucifer ! Lucifer ! how art thou f all'n ! 
How art thou bruis'd that deceiveth the nations ! 
Wilt thou exalt thy seat above the stars 
Of Elohim ? Behold the ancient North ! 
Would'st reign upon the Mount of Paradise ? 
Hast thou not said, ' I will ascend above 
The highest clouds ; I will be like unto 
The Most High jah.' Lo, thou shalt be cut down 
Even to Hell ; archon of Babylon." 

Thereafter lead the past'ial Morasthite, 
Descrying Bethlehem, a little one 
Among the thousands, whence He shall come forth 
Whose goings are of old, from everlasting — 
JAHVEH-Messiah, the Prince, and Israel's king. 
Him next succeeds the Elkoshite, the doom 
Of Nineveh foreshadowing ; accompanied 



THE COURIERS. 2 J J 

By Habakkuk, and Zephaniah ; meantime 
A sombre figure comes from Anathoth, 
Hilkiah's son, broken in heart, mourning 
The solitary city — the tribute princess. 

THE COURIERS. 

We lighten the soul of the seer, 
We brighten the face of the sphere ; 
For the day shall come and soon, 
That the Righteous Branch is grown 
Unto David. His holy Name we bless, 
" The lord, Our righteousness." 



He liveth, Jehovah liveth ; reprieveth 
His people far driven. Though He grieveth, 
He shall lead them softly with His hand, 
And brin? them back to Canaan. 



Nebuchadnezzar nameth " Belteshazzar," 

The likely lad with Jehoiakim ; 

Of the boys of Bel, none fair as Daniel ; 

In studies none equal ; in wisdom and skill ; 

Though he eat not the meat of the king. 

A scorn and derision, O wise men of Babylon ! 
Ye are curs'd, and your glory a dung-hill. 
The vision is deep that disturbs the king's sleep ; 
But unto Daniel the Lord doth reveal 
The Time and the times of His Will. 



278 THE PLEROMA. 

Jah give thee reprief, thou Presidents' chief ; 
And with thee the furnace-tried three ; 
The Ancient of Days shall shield thee always ; 
From the heel of the priest, and tooth of the beast, 
And show thee the things that shall be. 

THE PLEROMA. 

By Chebar's stream the Couriers next announce 
Whom Hebrew captives name Ezekiel — 
The priest and Buzi's son. Out of the North 
The Eden Cherubim descend on wheels 
Of Beryl, bearing Names effulgent with 
Their imag'ries. The cloud of amber rifts, 
Showing the Man — jahveh — upon a throne 
Of glory. Speed thy Goal eternal now ! 
The mystic roll be honey in thy belly ; 
Speak — speak, for I have set thee for a watch 
To Israel ; " Diblath," until they know 
That jah alone is God. 

THE ANGELS. 

Jahveh hath said and will fulfil ; 

Will take of the eminent tree ; 

From the uppermost branch will He crop ; 

Scind a delicate Twig from its top, 

And plant on the height of Israel. 

It shall send forth boughs and bear full fruit ; 

It shall shelter all manner of fowl and brute ; 

And a Virgin guard the Mystery. 

GAIA. 

O Sun and Sire of Heaven ! 
Gaia weeps ; and her bosom is wet with tears ; 



THE COURIERS. 2jg 

The storm-cloud hides thy form, 
O king ; and I falter to tell my fears. 

Thou drawest near, O Sun ! 
Thy breath is soft, thou wilt hearken my cry ! 

Gaia bleedeth for her sons ; 
Ransom, and loose thy children ere they die ! 

" I come " thou sayest, O Light ! 
" I will surely My offspring then redeem." 

I dry my tears and wait, 
O king ; while Thy Advent shall be my theme. 

LIMITS. 

Ethnic orbits bending, rending boundaries ; 

In our balances weighing destinies ; 

Medo-Persia choosing, fusing ; 

Calling fatal numbers Chaldea atones. 

" Cyrus " conqueror naming, naming as we rise, 

Hov'ring over Israel warm with our surmise. 

CYRUS. 

Behold to Cyrus the kingdoms of Earth 
Hath jahveh, God of the Hebrews, given ; 
And now commandeth his servant, the king, 
To build a house unto the God of Israel, 
In Judah, that is, in Jerusalem. 
Who chooseth from His people, go ye up, 
Strengthen'd with gifts willingly offered. 

THE CIRCLES. 

The people of jahveh return : 

THE BANDS. 

With zeal for his Righteousness ; 



280 THE PLEROMA. 

THE CIRCLES. 

The false aleim they spurn ; 

THE BANDS. 

One only, jehovah, they bless. 

THE CIRCLES. 

O Sabbath of Eden, how long ? 

THE COURIERS. 

Till cometh Messiah, the Lord : 

THE BANDS. 

The altar is kindled ; blest throng ! 
The Infinite One is adored. 

THE ANGELS. 

Wing the message to the skies ; 
Part the blazing canopies ; 
Seraphs swing the pearly gates, 
For the Earth her lord awaits ! 

4 He shall send forth His Son, the Branch j 
Zioris temple to rebuild ; 
Judah teach His covenants ; 
All the Earth with glory filled" 

THE DEMONS. 

Fur-fur on yon butterflies ! 
Dust the dandruff in their eyes ! 
Sprinkle gold-dust ; gild with praise ! 
Angels have such conscious ways ! 



THE COURIERS. 28 1 

Have the Cutheans no lot ? 
Hath Samaria no plot ? 
Shimshai up ! up, O Rehura ! 
For the Jews rebuild Salem ! 

Sic, sicntque, Nehemiah ; 
Haggai and Zechariah ; 
Last and least poor Malachi 
Chirps his cheery prophecy. 

SATAN. 

The Citron tree and orange are in bloom ; 
The vales green upwards into life ; the fields, 
Water'd by showers, welcome daisy bands : 
Fair Land of Promise, greet we once again ! 

Ho, Prince of Canaan, hither ! Thrift ! Thrift ! 
Your master cometh, Baal of earth and sky. 
Here build our throne aloft, upon this hill, 
Once Limits gave the damned Jahvite horde. 

No prophet pipes within Jehovah's town ! 

Erudite Ezra drops his finish'd scroll, 

And sleeps unwept within his hollow'd vault ; 

This temple is a shadow to the first ; 

Nor ark, nor mercy-seat, nor candlestick, 

Nor glory-cloud ! well may the grandsires weep. 

Arouse thyself — O god of Canaan ! 
When thou hast read this autographic card, 
Inscribed by Mights and Excellences 
The loyal world ; if thou thrill not thereat, 
By Zeus I will dethrone thee ! Why star'st thus ? 



282 THE PLEROMA. 

Gazing like adamant ! Anile awake ! 
By heav'n, and art thou dead ? a witless shuck ? 
I '11 prick thee, and thereto shall witness hell 
If thou 'st a pith of sense. Devils, demons ! 
Marvel ! If ye have known like circumstance 
In these Jahvitic bounds, say ye ! say ye ! 

THE DEMONS. 

Molech dead ? 

Molech dread ! 
Pardi, do devils die ? 

Dare we mutter ? 

Shall we utter 
The ghastly prophecy ? 

Lo Gaia sigheth, 

In birth-pains crieth. 
Perdu, when Christ is born ! 

Curse thou and canker ; 

Nursing thy rancor ; 
Satan, we thee forewarn. 

THE .EONS. 

The Circles weave the Eden-ring, 
And seal Messiah — Heav'n-born king ; 
The Couriers fly through distant lands, 
And rays of hope gleam from the Bands. 
The Persian sage drinks deep of heaven ; 
The exiled Jew receives the leaven ; 
Hellenic wisdom, magian lore, 
The gifted Jahvites now explore. 
Write, sisters, write the End of Days ! 



THE COURIERS. 283 

The woe of Judah, and amaze 
Of horror ; for the Holy Shrine 
Is reeking with the blood of swine ! 
Thence phallic reels of Dionysius ; 
And Baal's orgies blasphemous ; 
The direful edicts; dismantled gates, 
And gore of myriads Syria sates. 

The Glory of Modin. 

How is the valiant fallen that delivered Israel ! 
In the hour of triumph he fell at Eleasa : 
In Mizpeh fasted he and prayed with his six hundred ; 
And jahveh gave him heart to meet an armed host. 
Apollonius and Seron, leaders of renown, were dis- 
mayed ; 
They saw their armies melt as doth a cloud away : 
Nicanor and Georgias likewise fled for safety ; 
They showed their elephants the blood of grapes in vain ; 
Their towers are empty and their heroes are no more. 

Then Judah sang the song of victory returning home : 
But in that hour the pride of Modin fell, — the son of 

Mattathias. 
In the sepulchre of his father his brothers buried him ; 
And all the people cry, " How is the valiant fallen." 

THE PLEROMA. 

The JEons write the Maccabsean rule, 

And number now but five and threescore years 

Unto the Age of ages. The runes they read 

Are short and trist. Lo, jahveh's adversaries 

Stalk in the very Holies, and profane 

Its awful secrets. And victorious Rome, 



284 THE PLEROMA. 

The world's empress, (whilst fratricidal strife 

Suffers a lurid death), bestoweth crowns 

To those whose gifts weigh most upon her scales ; 

Hence alien rulers sit in David's seat, 

And alien priests Aaron's blessing invoke. 

LUCIFER (SATAN). 

Insatiate flame of pride and thirst of power, 
That drinks the essence of our being up ! 
The Baal of baali?n ! mighty Zeus of gods ! 
The Prince of potentates ! What more, O Star ? 
" Dost Haman scorn another Mordecai ? 
O Spirit of the Air ; behold thy seat 
Transcends Zion as heaven doth the earth — 
Thy glory rolls along the Aonian height, 
And bursts in thunders from Olympus' breast. 
Thou art the core of ethnic faiths — the crest 
Of Greek and Roman pantheons — the Might 
That battled down the world, welding in one 
Colossal state the peoples of the earth." 

Truth, voice ! Thou answer'st well ; but not to cheer 
Thy words are chosen. Vain, in vain ! For whilst 
These boastful Jahvites sing Messiah-Psalms, 
And the eternal lamp burns in jah's Shrine, 
Nor mighty Caesar's triumphs ; Julian-codes ; 
Nor closed Janus ; commerce, letters, arts ; 
Nor one world-speech, nor one wide commonwealth — 
Avails to lift these brows of ours, that lower 
With dark uncompromising hate upon 
Judea and its God. 




PLEROMA ELEGANS. 



CANTO VII. 

THE MAN. 
THE ARGUMENT. 

The Evangel announces the betrothal of the Virgin — Angels 
sing the Spring of Nazareth — The Virgin's vision — 
Songs of Gaia and the Ethers — The sEons close their 
full-writ scrolls — Gabriel appear eth to Zacharias — 
The Couriers near the Solar Name — Gabriel visiteth 
the Virgin — The song of Mary upon her miraculous 
Conception of the Holy Ghost — The King of the Ethers 
— The passing of the pleroma — The Lay of the Lights 
— Great pan is dead — The Nemesis of Unbelief — The 
Satirist of Ro?ne — Herod or Remorse — The Evangel 
of the Birth — The Kenosis — Sata?i gloateth over the 
insane jealousy of the king — The Song of the Stars, 
and the Magi — Rama — Satan seeth the Holy Family 
on their way to Egypt escorted by Michael, and is 
appalled — The " Nazarene " — The Doxa in the Christ- 
Child — Nazareth is sung — The Tephillim — Jesus be- 
cometh aware of His divine nature — The sEons cry, 
" Where, O where is the Messiah?" — The Herald — 
The Baptis?n — The effulgence of the pleroma — The 
Temptation — " The Lamb of God " — Songs of the 
Couriers, Limits, Bands, and Circles — Gaia — jahveh 
cometh to His Temple — The Christ, in the plenary 
graces of Manhood is the Goal of Creation — The 
Sevenfold perfection of the God- Man — The pleroma. 
285 



286 THE PLEROMA. 

THE EVANGEL. 

The birth of the Immanuel was on this wise 
When as, in days of Issacher, High Priest, 
The virgin daughter of one, Joachim, 
According to the custom of the Jews, 
Was solemnly betrothed to Joseph — 
A man of good report, prudent and just, — 
Before he took her as a husband home, 
And knew her as his wife, she was with child, 
Already of the Holy Ghost. Now when 
Joseph was minded privily to hide 
Her shame, the Angel of the Lord appear'd, 
And told him of the Mystery ; how that 
The thing conceived in her womb, none was 
But the Messiah- Immanuel. Wherefore 
The blameless Maid he cherish'd sacredly 
As Mother of jahveh The Christ, and Bride 
Of God. 

THE ANGELS. 

She hies to the dell, O lily-fair ! 

And dips the rosemary in the spring ; 
Entwines therewith a wreath with care, 
And binds it to her flowing hair ; 

And as she binds, doth softly sing : 

" If he loves me, it is well ; 
I will reverence, and fulfil 

The vow of this young heart : 
Faithfully will serve his years, 
Share his blessings and his fears, 

Till death the bond do part." 



THE MAN. 287 

The cloister'd shade 's the Maiden's bower ; 

She bathes her brow in the thymy brook ; 
The queen of lilies ! A spotless flower ! 
That, lotus-like, divines her hour ! 

Thou pure one, angels vie thy look ! 

Gaze not where sleeps, with snow-white breast, 

A form so fair, the Airs are awed ! 
Hail, Gabriel ! fill thy behest ! 
By yonder spring thou find'st the Blest 

Of maidens, and the Bride of God ! 

THE VIRGIN. 

In my dream there woo'd me One, 

so glorious, like the sun ! 

And my soul a rapture felt, unknown ; 

1 awake with nerveless dread, 
Lest a bride I shall be led, 

And this heart its secret do atone : 

For the guileless love of a dream, 
And its fancies that only seem ; — 

Aye, for tfris I vail a blushing face ; 
While I gird me to haste away, 
Though more loth to go than stay. 

Lo, the bright ones hover o'er this place ! 

GAIA. 

In my grief I cried unto the King, 
So bereaved by Death and the Grave ; 

In my anguish entreated and prayed 
Him to come and his children to save. 



288 THE PLEROMA. 

I am fill'd with unspeakable bliss, 
And resign'd to the ills that I bear. 

He hath heard my complaint, dried my tears ; 
And I bide now his mercy so near. 

THE ETHERS. 

Melody in speech, therein do we teach 

To men the law divine of love ; 
Discords in our songs loudly speak of wrongs 

Against the Majesties above. 

Star of stars, the blest ? God is here confess'd, 
Whose promise stirs thy inmost sphere ; 

Cosmic fervors list ; Bands and Couriers tryst ; 
And sing Messiah's Advent near. 

THE PLEROMA. 

The Mights, ethereal, sing the Age at hand ! 
And Gaia fain would tell mankind of signs 
That cheer her troubled heart and smooth her brow. 
The hoary ^Eons close their full-writ scrolls, 
Laying them lowly at the Father's feet : 
Next, sit them down, meantime the Holy Names, 
By God's command, review the Sacred Books. 

The Majesties of Heav'n heed every line, 
And mirror in their faces fact by fact ; 
The six creative days and Eden's rest ; 
The fraud of Lucifer and human guilt ; 
The woman's seed, — the Serpent's destin'd foe ; 
The altars of jahveh and cults abhorr'd 
Of true aleim ; the flood and Abram's call ; 
The Messianic line — Egypt — Sinai — 



THE MAN. 289 

The Jehovistic wars ; the Judges' rule ; 

The Theocratic State, and kingly race ; 

The harp of David and the House he plann'd — 

The splendors of his son, envied of kings ; 

The schism and priestly craft ; the empire lost ; 

The seventy years retrieve in Babylon, 

Till God in mercy brought a remnant back 

To build Jerusalem, and jahveh's Shrine. 

Thence centuries apocryphal that hide 

The Messianic plan until the Time. 

Read thus the Names the last page of the scroll ; 
And pause before the multitudinous shout 
Of, " Glory, Power, and Blessing to jahveh, 
That Was and Is, and Is to Come ! Amen ! " 

The father hears, and bows in blissful pain, 
While love springs dove-like — from His breast, to fly 
To Earth to do His will vicarious. 
Hail, Heart of God ! Descend and fill the Earth ! 
Creation mourneth Thy delay, and stands 
With girded thighs gazing into the sky. 

THE EVANGEL. 

In days of Herod, king, there was a priest 
Nam'd Zacharias, of Abia's course ; 
Whose wife was also of the Aaronic line. 
Most righteous were they both before the Lord, 
But childless, for Elisabeth was barren. 
Now when, in monthly course, he incense burn'd, 
The Angel of the Lord to him appeared ; 
And on the right side of the altar stood. 

19 



29O THE PLEROMA. 

GABRIEL. 

Fear not, Zacharias, thy pray'r is heard ; 
Elisabeth, thy wife, shall bear a son, 
And thou shalt call him John, the Gift of God. 
Increase of joy and gladness thou shalt have, 
And many come rejoicing at his birth. 
He shall be truly great before jahveh ; 
Fill'd with the Holy Spirit from the womb. 
Full many shall he turn in Israel 
Unto the Lord — going before Him in 
The Spirit of Elias and in might ; 
To turn the hearts of fathers to their sons ; 
The disobedient into Wisdom's way, — 
And thus prepare a people for Messiah. 

ZACHARIAS. 

Whereby shall I know this ? For I am old, 
And my wife also stricken well with days. 

GABRIEL. 

Know thou that I who here speak unto thee 
Am Gabriel, and stand before the Lord ; 
I come imparting these tidings to thee ; 
In sign whereof thou shalt be straightway dumb, 
Until the day these things shall be perform'd ; 
For that thou stumbled at my words, which must 
In time, duly appointed, be fulfilled. 

THE COURIERS. 

We are nearing the Solar Name ; 
We are tasting the central Flame, 

Where all lights and glories meet, 

And Creation is complete 
In the JAHVEH-Christ. 



THE MAN. 2g] 

Whilst the Angel Gabriel flies 
On redeeming embassies ; 

And the womb of the barren wife 

Is fertile with throbbing life 
Of the Messenger of Christ. 

Whilst the Spirit sits as a dove 
In the bosom swelling with love, 

For the Form in the vision seen, 

With the mild and kingly mien 
Of the JAHVEH-Christ. 

ELISABETH. 

The Lord hath taken my reproach away ; 
Israel henceforth shall call me Blest ; 
In the hidings of my heart, O JAHVEH-Christ ; 
In the secret place Thou art address'd. 

Thine Angel guide me to the Holy Maid, 

Elect, the mother of my Lord ; 
The Gift of God inspires my prayer — 

Thy handmaid waits upon Thy Word. 

THE EVANGEL. 

And in the sixth month also came from God 
The Angel Gabriel to Nazareth, 
Unto the virgin-bride of one call'd Joseph. 

GABRIEL TO THE VIRGIN. 

Hail, highly favor'd ! thy God saluteth thee ! 
Blessed art thou among Zion's daughters ! 
Fear not, thou hast found favor with the Lord ; 
Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a Son, 



292 THE PLEROMA. 

Whose name shall be jesus, Immanuel ; 

He shall be great, renown'd Son of the Highest, 

Who giveth Him to sit upon the throne 

Of his ancestor David ; and to reign 

Over the house of Jacob evermore. 

And of His Kingdom there shall be no end. 

THE VIRGIN. 

How shall this be, seeing I am a virgin ? 

GABRIEL. 

The Holy Spirit shall on thee descend, 
The Power of the Highest o'ershadowing : 
Wherefore That which is to be born of thee 
Shall be call'd Holy— Son of God. 

Moreover, 
Elisabeth, thy cousin, hath conceiv'd a son 
In her old age ; and this is the sixth month 
With her who is call'd barren. For, know thou, 
With God nothing shall be impossible. 

THE VIRGIN. 

Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; 
Be it according to Thy word ! 

THE PLEROMA. 

The Heavenly Bird hath woo'd the Virgin's heart, 
Who yields herself a vessel for the Lord. 
O meek, and matchless Maid ! O Bride of God ! 
Pleroma filleth thee with guileless love — 
The aspiration, the capacity — 
Whereby a Hebrew maid, a lowly child 
Of the lost race, the vehicle becomes 



THE MAN. 293 

Of JAHVEH-Christ — marvel of miracles ! 

And shall be call'd The Blest, The Bride of God. 

Now hath Our Fuhiess, immanent in Time, 
The promise of the first creation fill'd : 
See Nature upward turning to the sky, 
To list the footsteps of its Creator ! 
Vailing Our Glories, and low bending down, 
We pass the open door into the Earth. 
Farewell Eternal Father ! We descend : 
So hast Thou will'd, ere Earth or man became ; 
Thou know'st the Way, the Sacrifice, the End. 
Turn back ye splendors of the Heavenly Throne ! 
The Son of God shall be the Son of Man ; 
The Timeless find and feel the bounds of Time ; 
The Spaceless One shall tabernacle Space ; 
The Increate be of a Virgin born ;— 
The Godhead bodily reveal'd to men. 

THE VIRGIN. 

If a dream, 't was most wonderful dream ! 
Oh, the bliss of that swoon, as the gleam 

Of the Holy One enter'd my breast ; 
But if true, 't is unspeakably true ! 
Answer, heart ! Dost thou murmur or rue 

The words thou didst speak to thy Guest ! 

What I saw I may never reveal ; 
What I felt mortal never shall feel ; 

As the Glory pass'd into my bosom ! 
And it seem'd in the translucent light, 
Ere the Marvel had faded to sight, 

That a Deity Man had become. 



294 THE PLEROMA. 

The King of the Ethers. 

The King of the Ethers came wooing our Star, 
In His chariot of flame, with His locks streaming far ; 
He whisper'd of Worship and Honor and Might, 
And a Crown in His Kingdom unfading and bright. 

Our Star lov'd the Prince of the radiant air ; 
And holily yielded Him offspring to bear ; 
The Sun and the Star embrac'd in the morn ; 
And the Child of the Highest to Gaia is born. 

The Passing of the Pleroma. 

The solar splendors dull and fade ; 
The Dove nests with the lowly Maid ; 
O matchless grace ! O truth display'd 
At the Passing of pleroma. 

Creation pauses to adore ; 
This pensive Star is hush'd before 
The Light of the World, and the open Door, 
At the Passing of pleroma. 

Increate Son ! Thou 'st chosen the Way ? 
And humbling Thee, resignest Thy sway. 
O Grace, and Truth ! O blessed Day ! 
At the Passing of pleroma. 

Who knoweth the end of the dying age ? 
Who raiseth him up to view the stage, 
When JAHVEH-Christ shall turn the Page 
At the Passing of pleroma ? 



THE MAN. 295 

THE EVANGEL. 

Then Mary, the Virgin, arose in haste, 
And went into the hill-country of Juda ; 
And, entering the house of Zacharias, 
Saluted her cousin Elisabeth. 
And lo, it came to pass that, when she heard 
The salutation of the Virgin-bride, 
The babe leap'd in her womb ; and she was fill'd 
With the Holy Spirit, and did prophesy : 

" Blessed art thou of the daughters of David ! 
And blessed the Fruit of thy Womb ! And whence 
Is 't that the Mother of my Lord should come 
Tome?" 

THE VIRGIN. 

My soul doth magnify the Lord, 
And my spirit rejoice in God my Saviour ; 
For He hath regarded the low estate 
Of His handmaid ; all generations me 
From henceforth shall the Blest of mothers call. 

THE EVANGEL. 

Elisabeth, in time, brought forth a son ; 
And neighbors gather'd to rejoice with her ; 
Who call'd him " Zacharias " from his father. 
But she said, " Nay ! for John shall be his name." 
Then made they signs, his father being dumb — 
Who on a tablet wrote, " His name is John." 
Thereat immediately his tongue was loos'd ; 
And he was filled with the Holy Ghost. 
Then fear fell on all that dwelt round about, 
Who marvel'd much what sort of child this was. 



296 THE PLEROMA. 

And the lad grew, in spirit waxing strong ; 
And was in the deserts until the day 
Of his appearing unto Israel. 

The Lay of the Lights. 

The Lay of the Lights Messianic, from Eden — 
From the mother of men, to the Mother of God ; 
From the Tree of the fall, to the Tree of Salvation ; 
From A/eim-jAHVEH, to jahveh the Christ. 

Sing the answering flame on the altar of Abel ; 

And the savor of blood with his sin-offering ; 

The renaissance of the true faith in Enos, 

And the eight Jahvites saved at the deluge by Noah. 

Sing the faith of the father of Isaac and Jacob ; 

And the patriarch line with its fortunes in Egypt. 

The Exodus sing of the Jahvites from bondage ; 

The Levitic rites so replete with their shadows. 

Tell the mystical sense of the shew-bread and incense ; 

The ark and the altar and candlestick golden ; 

The oil of anointing, and robes of the priesthood ; 

The Glory that cover'd the Seat of Atonement ; 

The Cloud that stood over the Tent of the Presence. 

Sing the titles denominating the Messiah — 
The Angel of God, and the Star out of Jacob ; 
The Sceptre of Judah, and Shepherd of Israel ; 
The Child of a Virgin — Redeemer, Immanuel — 
The Plant of Renown, and Desire of the Nations — 
The Mighty to Save, — the Saviour — jehovah ! 

Sing times in the life of the j AKVEii-Messiah : 
Whose birth is set down in the Book of Decrees ! 



THE MAN. 297 

To be of a Virgin in Bethlehem, Ephratah, 
Whom Kings and the great shall haste to adore. 
Sing the tears of sad Rachel, the call out of Egypt ; 
And lastly, the Cry of the Messenger Prophet. 

A VOICE. 

The august Caesar hath decreed the orb 
Of the wide Roman world shall be assess'd : 
Whose will, Cyrenius, the governor 
Of Syria, with strict subservience heeds ; 
Commanding to enroll each in his place. 
Then Joseph with the Virgin, being great 
With child, — scions of the prophetic line — 
Sought cautiously and slow their way unto 
The city where their lineage was call'd. 
And so it was, that as they tarried ; the day 
Was fully come when she should be delivered 
Of her first-born. 



The Ode of the ^Eons. 

Great pan is dead ! The power is sped 

Of pythoness and fable ; 
The world is ill, and fain would still 

Its griefs ; but is not able. 
Dark Egypt's bird, by rumor heard, 

Hath turn'd again to ashes ; 
While omens make the nations quake ; 

And night is bright with flashes. 
What dooms the mind of humankind ? 

And drives the world to madness ? 
Who checks its grief, and brings relief, 

Exchanging joy for sadness ? 



298 THE PLEROMA. 

Sing, ^Eons sing, while ushering 
The Day-spring from on high ; 

Depart, O night ! Enter, O Light ! 
Son of Eternity ! 

The Nemesis of Unbelief. 

" The gods are dead," the Cynic cried, 
And chided with his jewel'd bride, 

Before he went away : 
" The gods are dead" alone, she mus'd : 
" Why then must pleasure be refus'd ? 

Lovers shall have their day." 

From myrrhine vases incense rose ; 
The cloister'd mirror dimly shows 

Lovers in amorous play : 
" Hither, sweet boy, and view my pearls ! 
Prythee to braid them with these curls ! 

And bide with me the day." 

" The gods are dead? " the Cynic cried, 
" Who taught men so, hath foully lied ! 

O Heaven, retrieve my loss ! 
Bring, bring me back my jewel'd wife ! 
Fair as a star, dearer than life ! 

And I will bear my cross ! " 

The Satirist of Rome. 

Thy skirts are rank with wantonness ; 

Thy gems are dyed with lust ; 
Debauchery and avarice 

Fill thee with huge disgust. 



THE MAN. 299 

Thy bloody jousts fail to appease 

The harden'd populace ; 
Banquet, nor bath, bid clamor cease, 

But add to thy disgrace. 
On damask cushions gluttons lie, 

Mopping their gouty lips ; 
While hollow hunger, with a sigh, 

In vice still deeper dips. 

Abnormal wickedness is rife ; 

Nature suffers abuse ; 
Thy nobles love, but lead no wife ; 

And marriage vows refuse. 
Millions of slaves possess no right 

Their masters shall respect ; 
And libertines find their delight 

In licenses uncheck'd. 
The Stoic dotes on suicide ; 

The Epicure on pleasure ; 
The Sophist knoweth to decide 

The less the greater measure. 

Ill-gotten gains control the vote, 

Of senator and lictor ; 
And bards, to earn a paltry groat, 

Do celebrate a victor. 
The supple Greek infests thy walks, — 

Wizard of many arts ; 
Full soon his puny pupil stalks, 

To gorgonize the marts. 
In hopeless fatalism mired, 

On Death thy wisest wait ; 
Whilst wanton priestesses are hired 

To sanctify the state. 



300 THE PLEROMA. 

Herod or Remorse. 

In the glare of thine agony, dread Idumean, 

Thy ghastliest victims we see ; 
In horrors of madness call'st thou in vain, 

For thy murder'd Mariamne. 
Lo, her two sons come back again reft of the tomb, 

And stalk through thy chambers by night ; 
And the dread child of Doris delivers the doom 

Of Herod, the dread Edomite. 
In servile prostration the proud signet-ring 

Of the Consular power dost thou kiss, 
While patriot thousands to ruin dost fling, 

And meetest their cries with a hiss. 
Know then, O dread, O doom'd Edomite ! 

Thy rage and thy scorn of the Christ, 
Do hasten the Hope of the hated Jahvite, 

And the birth of the King thou defiest. 

GABRIEL. 

Thy time is accomplish'd, O Bride of the Spirit ! 

The Seed of the Virgin is Jahveh, the man ! 
The pulse of this Star is quick with attention — 

The face of Creation is anxious and wan. 

Hail, angels, expectant of Jesus the Saviour ! 

Break forth with your paeans of blessing to earth ! 
Rejoice with the Ages ! and joy with the Heavens ! 

For now is the Advent and Hour of His birth ! 

THE EVANGEL. 

On the wintry hills abiding, shepherds watch'd their 

flocks by night, 
When the Angel of the Highest aw'd them with his glory 

bright. 



THE MAN. 301 

" Fear not," said he, " for I bring you joyous tidings of 

the morn ; 
Lo in Bethlehem, David's city, JAHVEH-Christ this day is 

born." 
Sought with haste the faithful shepherds where the 

young child lay ; 
Then, returning, sang God's glory and His Christ- 

JAHVEH. 

THE CHORUS OF ETHERS. 

Fairily, airily ; 
Cheerily, merrily, 

The circling Ethers fly ; 
Pearling, curling ; 
Whirling, swirling, 

The chorus passeth by. 

Light'ning, bright'ning ; 
Splendidly hight'ning 

The lustre of the Morn ; 
Lowering, showering ; 
Holily embowering 

The place where Christ is born. 

Singing, ringing ; 
Swinging, clinging, 

The Bands and Couriers meet ; 
Flowing, glowing ; 
Lovingly throwing 

Their blessings at His feet. 

Ever linking, never shrinking, 

The Bands salute their Lord ; 

Ever streaming, never dreaming, 
The Couriers wait His word. 



302 THE PLEROMA. 

The Kenosis. 

sages of the Earth, how marvel ye alway, 

The Goal of the Creation — the birth of the jahveh ! 

The hiding of the Word within a tender Babe, 

The Glory-Unbegott'n in mortal guise display'd. 

Hail, Holy One of Heav'n, nursing a Virgin's breast ! 

Cradled upon her arm, protected and caress'd ! 

Hail, timeless One, Earth-born, and circumscrib'd in 

Time ! 
Hail, spaceless One, despising not Earth's bound and 

clime ! 
Hail, self-existent One, humbled in servanthood ! 
With Plenitude of Power, calling for daily food. 
Hail, King Divine ; That wast and ever art the Lord ! 
All glory be to Thee, in Heav'n and Earth adored ! 
Thou shalt inform our minds and lift from us the vail : 
Unseal dark mysteries, when human wisdom fail. 
Thou fulness — the pleroma — bodily express'd ; — 
Jesus, Child of Mary, art God and Man confess'd ! 

THE DEMONS. 

Hie, Hie, travel slyly ! 
What ye do, do ye wily ! 

Doom is near ; 

And we fear 

The demon's hour is brief. 
Hist, Hist, travel slowly ! 
Treading nigh, treading lowly ; 

For jahveh 's 

Born to-day, 

And Earth sighs her relief. 



THE MAN. 303 

Truck, Truck, demons imping ! 
Dowdy Prince, thou art primping, 

While we smite 

The Jahvitr 

With dreaded maladies. 
Go, Go, Essene spirit ! 
Solitude bids thee to cheer it 

Though thou mope, 

Give us rope ! 
We '11 bind the yahvite's knees. 



SATAN. 

Aha, grim fiend ! son of the Edomite ! 
I'll trick thee, Herod, ere thou die the death ! 
Fairly I've won the porridge of thy dish, 
Which now I taste again gulping its froth. 
Imbruited ghoul ! Incarnate prince of ill ! 
To thy red hands I clasp and bind my will. 
Thou hast a deal of savage pluck to use 
The two-edg'd blade — the poison and the rack ! 
Oho, a chunk of fuming funk art thou ! 
And the Messiah-Child shall be the spark 
That lighteth thee, and kindleth deadly rage ! 

Wherefore I loiter, for a space, among 
These hills, aloof the scene of Bethlehem : 

Down cursed Fear ! that looms before my soul ! 
Phantasmal shadow of myself ! away ! begone ! 
This wronged Lucifer shall sleep no more 
Till he hath rid this star of the Messiah. 



304 THE PLEROMA. 

The will that moves the world is an engine 
Which shakes, perforce, its massy edifice ; 
Know then, O soul, this perturbating breast 
Moveth the ruling passions of mankind — 
Lust, avarice, and power : so doth the tumult 

Of our will report its awful force. 

The Song of the Stars. 

The Song of the Stars, — the wondering stars ! 
The listening, glistening, diamond stars ; 

While the blithe, blue Air 

Calls everywhere ; 

To the hills and vales ; 

To the glades and dales : 
" List, list, the Song of the wondering Stars ! " 

The Shout of the Stars, — the numberless stars ! 
A glorified host with light-winged cars ! 

While the blithe, blue Air 

Calls everywhere ; 

Heralding far 

The " Son of a Star ! "— 
The antiphone of the wondering Stars ! 

The Sigh of the Stars, — the increate stars ! 
The wistful, mystical, soulful stars ! 

While the blithe, blue Air, 

Calls everywhere, 

" Behold Judea's star ! — 

Flashing his beams afar ! 

In his trigon of tears, 

A sceptre he bears, 
And the fadeless crown of the increate Stars ! " 



THE MAN. 305 

THE MAGI. 

We worship Thee, Star of stars ! 
Thy trigon is full in Mars ! 

Judea's hour impends ; 

Ormuzd his Prophet sends, 
Born of a maid. 
The Prince of Light comes to redeem ! 
In Ophiuchus brightly gleam 

His signatures ! Yon Star 

Of Hope — the Magi seek afar — 
Balaam portray'd. 

THE DEMONS. 

Here 's an astrologic bit, 
Worthy of a demon's wit ; 
Tie it with a willow withe ! 
Label — A Chaldean Myth — 
Casting his nativity 
Under Jove and Mercury. 
Heigho, heigho, " Cunning'" 
Read we plainly running. 
Heigho, heigho, " Power " 
Lasting but an hour. 
Cast we, cast we and carouse ; 
His Zodiac 's a cadent house ! 

SATAN. 

Unearthly and mysterious change hath pass'd 
Upon this Star ! The skies conceal it not, 
Nor soughing seas so hoarsely muttering ; 
Nor massy mounts, deep-chested, echoing. 
The ever-sighing groves make melody, 



306 THE PLEROMA. 

While fleecy flocks upon the hills answer 
Their minstrelsy. 

(Eyes, are ye not for seeing ? 
And ears, for hearing ? No mumbo-jumbo spell 's 
On you ! What Satan sees, let him not fear to see ! 
And what he hears, let him not fear to hear ! 
If false unto all others, then more true 
Be thou unto thyself.) 

This drowsy world 
Dops at the sun, and knows not why. Ha ! Ha ! 
The foot of Ophiuchus blazes forth 
The fact portentous of Messiah's birth — 
Disastrous sign to Lucifer, except 
He captive take both sign and Signified ! 

VOICES. 

Creation groaneth, travailing in pain. 

SATAN. 

Now is the stage too slender for the act ! 
The cast is fully call'd. Satan doth prompt ! 
On with the buskins ! Play no pantomime ! 
Meet plot with counter-plot ! Slay, or be slain ! 
The Chasidim do barter now thy crown away ; 
The poisoners skulk in thy palaces ; 
While Envy is unsex'd to do thee wrong. 

Bravo, thy splendid coup of caution shall 
Amaze the fallen chiefs. On with the act ! 

THE DEMONS. 

Herod is mock'd ! 

The Magians stalk'd and stole away. 

Drink, drink the broth ! 

For by its froth ye curse jahveh ! 



THE MAN. 307 

GABRIEL. 

Arise, Joseph ! Arise and take the babe, 
And Virgin, and flee with haste to Egypt ! 
And be thou there until I bring thee word ; 
For Herod seeks the young Child to destroy. 



Rama. 

Ah, mournful town of Bethlehem ! In thee 
The voice of Rama lives again ! In thee 
The Rachels weep their infants slain ! In thee 
They sob their tragic tale heard tearfully ! 



SATAN. 

Methought in sooth to nip the " Root of David " 
In the bud ; and thereto did incite the mind 
Of the foreboding, jealous king, to slay 
The infants in Judea's little town ; 
And so destroy the " king " of the Jahvites. 
But cursed finitude ! What boots our craft ! 
For ere the innocents are stiff in death, 
Do we behold a sight to freeze the gall ! — 
For, nearing Rhinoklura's purple brook, 
In a mirage, appears the pious Joseph, 
The Virgin and her Child, attended by 
Great Michael, prince of the angelic hosts. 

By Jove ! And is it the Messiah's plan 
To use the military of the skies 
Against the lawful Archcn of this Star ? 



308 THE PLEROMA. 

Him to degrade and bind in triumph's chains ? 
Ye Mights above ! (no longer God the " Good " 
But Mights of Air implacable and merciless) 
If 't come to this ; before that hour, shall we 
Our right prescriptive yield the JAHVEH-King : 
Since Might 's the conscience of the Eternal, 
Might maketh Right for angels and for men ! 
'T is clear, 't is very clear, (angels may nod 
Assent) — such is the Ethic of Salvation — 
The Babe of Bethlehem lives because he lives — 
And Satan is proscrib'd and doom'd because 
He is ! To question, or to reason 's " Sin "j 
And " Sin " is Death because it pleases might 
To make it so. Then may we trust, some day, 
When Might makes Must, and Must makes us obey, 
To be a ransom'd Cherub up in Heav'n, 
And sing our lullaby among the saints. 
'T will be the heart of magnanimity 
In us — the lord of this fair Star — to name 
The " son of god " our heir ! This will we do, 
When might compels, though tardily ; and earn 
Thereby a seat superior the Christ. 

GABRIEL. 

Arise, Joseph, the Babe and mother take, 
And go into the land of Israel ! 
For they are dead which sought the young Child's life. 

THE ANGELS. 

He heedeth the dream, and turneth aside, 

Going again to Galilee ; 
The faithful Scroll is now our guide, 

Since He " A Nazarene shall be." 



THE MAN. 309 

THE EVANGEL. 

And the Child grew and wax'd in spirit strong ; 
Filled with wisdom ; and the grace of God 
Was upon Him. 

The Doxa in the Christ-Child. 
The glory of pleroma shines within the Vail — 
The Virgin lifts the awful screen, and cries, " All hail, 
My Lord and Saviour ! " Then reverences the sleeping 

God. 
Awak'd, she wraps Him in the mantle of her heart's 
Maternal care ; whilst to no mortal she imparts 
The manner of His birth, nor Gabriel's secret word. 
She greets with pride each effort of His lisping tongue ; 
Recalls the shepherd's tale, and song by Angels sung ; 
Opens once more the treasures which the Gentiles 

brought ; 
And marvels much the blessing God in her had wrought. 
Again she hears the prophecy of Simeon, 
And pondereth the " sword " to pierce through her own 

soul : 
The ecstasy of Anna — prophetess, divines anon ; 
While mists of glory seem about her Babe to roll. 
The secrets hid within her heart daily augment ; 
As the Divine in Jesus with the earthly blent, 
Together grow into the perfect form of Youth ; 
Endued in the pleroma with all Grace and Truth. 

Nazareth. 
In the emerald circle of Galilee dwelleth the Boy Divine ; 
Like a brooch of pearls the whiten'd roofs of the village 
shine : 



3IO THE PLEROMA. 

From the breezy top of the thymy hill, descries the Com- 
ing Man 

The eagle poised in the cloudless blue, and the flight of 
the pelican. 

The Zephyrs brush from His brow away the softly silken 
hair — 

While His ruddy lips are skyward turn'd to kiss the 
scented air. 

First, to the North, His wondrous eyes, o'er wood-crown'd 
Napthali, 

See mighty Hermon's crystal dome, gleaming eternally. 

The terebinths of Tabor green, absorb the Eastward view; 

Whence purple Carmel draws His gaze unto the mirror'd 
blue, 

Where bird-like sails of Chittim's ships glance in the set- 
ting sun. 

At length He looks along the plain of storied Esdraelon, 

And traces far the winding road unto the city of jahveh — 

But His brow is pale, and His eyes are moist, as He turns 
away. 

THE EVANGEL. 

He said to them, — " How is 't that ye sought me ? 
Wist not to find me in my father's House ? " 
But they knew not His words and marvell'd much ; 
Then went Jesus with them to Nazareth, 
And was submissive unto them ; growing 
In Wisdom as in age ; and in favor 
With God and Man. 

The Tephillim. 

How happily, holily, rear'd is He ! 
The flower of the youth of Galilee ! 



THE MAN. 311 

His stature now makes Him a " Son of the Law," 
And to-day shall He see what never He saw — 
Vast porches of marble, and turrets of gold : — 
The shrine of jehovah ordained of old ; 
To-day are the Tephillim seal'd to His brow, 
While the girdle of youth shall further allow 
To offer His gifts, and to worship alone ; — 
Absolv'd from His kin to the Infinite One. 
Access to the circle of Hillel He gains, 
Where lost in emotion the day-long remains. 



THE ANGELS. 

O Shrine of loves ! O Soul of smiles ! 
O Seat of bliss, whence luminous aisles 

Stretch to the portals of yon star. 
Lo, 't is a mead of infinite joy, 
To see the holy, heaven-born, Boy 

Greeting the Father from afar ! 
O Lustre of lustres that hide the morn ! 
O Child of the Highest to Gaia born ! 

Thou findest Thy Father to-day ! 
And the Angel-world is thrill'd to pain, 
To see pleroma's Face again, 

In the face of the Christ- jahveh. 

THE PLEROMA-CHRIST. 

Here hath My Mother made the secret mine ! 
To Joseph known and her alone of Earth ! 
A " Virgin's child ! " " jesus " — " immanuel ! " 
By Gabriel nam'd, conceiv'd in mystery ! 
Spirit Divine ! — the Soul of souls ! to Thee 



312 THE PLEROMA. 

I flee to stay the mighty tide of joy ! 

Else shall this mortal frame dissolve in bliss ! 

O Father ! O Father ! O Infinite Father ! 

By the Face in My visions I know Thee, O Father ! 

By the cheer of the Angels that witness this moment ; 

By the Self-revelation of the pleroma ! 

By the rapture of spirit and benison holy ! 

By the sighs Thou allayest I know Thee, O Father ! 

By the loneliness lost in Thy sovereign Presence ! 

By the answer Thou givest My heart's burning question ! 

By the yearning I feel for the work of a Saviour ; 

Whilst, Father Eternal, I press on Thy heart. 

THE iEONS. 

Where, O where is the Messiah ? 
Ages crying, " Where, O where ? " 
Gaia yearning, mourning, mourning ; 
Millions sighing, millions crying, 
" Where, O where is the Messiah ? " 

To His Temple cometh jahveh, 
Fill'd and filling all with glory ; 
Heareth millions praying, saying, 
With the Law and Prophets saying, 
" Where, O where is the Messiah ? " 

THE ANTIPHON. 

Hid, though conscious of His mission ; 
Hears the sick world calling, calling — 
^Eons of the ^Eons calling, 

" Where, O where is the Messiah ? " 



THE MAN. 313 

Meekly beareth low condition, 
Carpenter in Nazareth, 
Till the pleroma unvaileth 
God in the Messiah. 

THE ETHERS. 

Hail Him ! Hail Him ! cosmic chorus ! 
Lo, Messiah reigneth o'er us ! 

And pleroma gloweth, gloweth ; 

And the face of Jesus showeth 
Him to be Divine. 

Circles sing their Cycle ended ; 
Limits sing of strife suspended ; 

Bands announce the band perfected ; 

Couriers hail the one expected, 
And bless the Man Divine ! 



Now the lonely prophet crieth, 
And the pride of man defieth, 

" Repent ye every one ! " 
See Judea's thousands pressing ; 
And their sins humbly confessing 

In the sacred Jordan. 

THE EVANGEL. 

Then cometh Jesus also unto John 
To be baptiz'd of him in the Jordan : 
But he forbade Him, saying to Him, " Nay ! 
For I have need to be baptiz'd of Thee ! " 
Then Jesus answer'd, " Surfer it so now — 
'T is meet for Me to do all righteousness." 



314 THE PL E ROMA. 

Then suffered he Him : 
And lo the heavens open'd unto him, 
And he beheld the Spirit like a dove, 
Descending upon Him ; and heard a voice, 
" Thou art My well-beloved Son, in Whom 
I am well pleased." 

GAIA. 

By Thy faithful pledges ; 
By the glowing edges 

Of the cloud ; 
By jehovah's mission, 
Taking man's condition, 

Meekly bow'd ; 
Gaia here entreateth, 
Evermore repeateth, 

" Come, O king ! " 
Though the Tempter taunteth, 
All Creation panteth 

For its King ! 

THE CIRCLES. 

To-day, to-day, 

We sail away 
To place the Aureole on jahveh ! 

By Jordan's stream 

Our pinions gleam, 
Then rest upon the Nazarene ! 

The Voice of Love 
We hear above, 
And see the Image of a Dove. 



THE MAN. 315 



O dazzling Sight ! 
O splendor bright, 
That dost on the Messiah light ! 



THE ANGELS. 

O heavenly chrism ! 
O meek baptism ! 

Dating Messiah's power ! 
Rise Son of Man ! 

And meet Satan ! 
God in Thee saves the hour ! 



THE DEMONS. 

Ho, ho, wanton imps ! 

Loving sin ; 

How ye grin ! 
As ye get a glimpse 

Of the Nazarene ! 

Senseless imbeciles, 

How ye swell ! 

As ye tell, 
With so sickly smiles, 

The wiles of hell ! 

Mighty Molech 's dead ! 

And he groans, 

And he moans 
On his fiery bed, 

Gasping with his tones. 



3l6 THE PLEROMA. 

Lucifer may know 

If he will ; 

Know it still — 
Fires are made below 

For the Devil. 

Torments us await, 
Come they soon or late ! 
Imps and demons, 
Seiz'd with tremens 
Drag the gaffs of fate. 

THE EVANGEL. 

And straightway the Spirit drave Him away, 
And He was forty days of Satan tempted ; 
And was in the desert with the wild beasts ; 
And Angels came and minister'd to Him. 

THE ANGELS. 

Anointed One ! haste on, jahveh ! 
The God in Thee shall gain the day ! 
Lo, ages long we wait and pray, 

" Let jahveh come ! " 
Thou 'rt come ; and goest to meet the Foe ! 
Haste on ! in the pleroma go ! 
The God in Thee shall overthrow 

The Evil One ! 

Ah, finite Man, Thou 'rt left alone ! 
The aureoles of Thy brow are gone ; 
Thy Glories vanish, one by one ; 
All — all — is gloom. 



THE MAN. 317 

Awake, O Star ! Awake, and pray ! 
This hour thy destiny doth weigh. 
The " Nazarene " shall fall, or stay 
For aye thy doom ! 

THE ETHERS. 

We near the Sabbath of our rest ; 
We make our cradle on the Breast 
So bright with bounty and behest 

Of the PLEROMA. 
Our sighs are vestiges of fears, 
Once clamorous, pleading with tears — 
Turn'd now to promise with the years 

Of the Adonai. 

Alas, the Spirit is withdrawn ! 
The Saviour's face is thin and wan : 
O frailty ! frailty ! the Archon 

Of Earth appears ! 
Let Gaia's bosom shrink with terror ! 
Creation's soul be flx'd with horror, — 
The sky above be a tale-bearer 

More stem than seers. 

THE PLEROMA-CHRIST. 

Nigh forty days and nights this wilderness 
Hath been my pillow. Yet, unharm'd I lay ; 
The lions stalking for their prey drew near, 
And nightly stood, with muffled roar, and watch'd 
Like sentinels my bed until the dawn. 
The ominous fowl of heav'n circling above, 
Swept down upon the neighboring crags, and sate ; 
And seem'd to link thought unto thought profound ; 
Whilst yonder asphalt sea grew hoarse with groans 



318 THE PLEROMA. 

Of the infernal brood of demons that writhe 
Neath Satan's leash. 

Looming upon the mount, 
Before daybreak, Mine eyes a portent saw, 
In shadowy outline as a man, but vast — 
A hundred times the stature of mankind. 
The slumbering heavens shudder'd ! Ethers wept. 
The heart of Earth stood still within her breast 
Appall'd ; when, startled from the holy trance, 
I leap'd upon My feet, to fall again — 
Too weak to stand ; or raise defensive arm. 
And here I lie in agony of need, 
With inward Mind calm as the brow of God. 

Lips may not utter what I felt ; nor tell 
The blaze of beauty, and the thrill of terror, 
When Bath Kol cried from out the cloud, and call'd 
Me " Son beloved " in Whom God is well-pleas'd. 
Then did the light, occulted in My birth, 
Burst forth in flame, and upward stream to meet 
The Dove that clove the sky above Mine head. 
Lo, in that moment did the pleroma 
Effulge ! — the God — the Man — as One reveal'd ! 
Whilst strong to weakness, glad to pain, I ran 
With closed eyes, maze-bound into the hills 
To be alone and contemplate these words. 

SATAN. 

One little word did nearly cleave the wit 
Of Jesus ; and shall be my weapon now. 
"The Son of God " — egregiously big 
The thought is to a carpenter ! Aye, aye ! 
What 's in mere name ! Ho, Satan is create, — 



THE MAN. 319 

And hence a " son," to wit, is the offspring 
Of the Almighty. I 've the cue—" The Son " ! 

And here on Quarantania's hill I find 
The son of Joseph, bearing many names ; 
Indeed none but a Rabbi should devise 
So many contradictions in one word. 
Were not the rule primeval of this Star 
Endanger'd by vagaries of this sort, 
Rare pleasure might we in his ravings find. 
But if he be jahveh, this day shall I 
The truth explore, and point my plans thereby. 
By Jove ! this arm, and this gray dome of wit 
Shall prove a doughty opponent in just 
With a young Deity in flesh and bones ! 

What is, if not the uncertain ! To-day 

A scheme 's in bloom, to-morrow, gone to seed ; 

The third, lies on the ground the food for worms. 

I 'm in Thy due, O Jordan Voice ; Thy word 

Breaketh the edge of my well-whetted plan, 

And makes it useless in the field with Christ. 

I take Thy lance instead,—" The Son," " The Son " ! 

Now hath he fix'd on me his hungry gaze ! 

Nor riseth to receive. I will draw near, 

And trail my beard low in the dust, feigning 

Obeisance. 

Son of Joseph, Carpenter ! 
Hail ! Art thou down again from out the clouds ? 
Ah, hunger eats thy tongue ! Sick eremite ! 
If food thou need'st or physick, here 's Thy slave. 
'T will be a notable and easy path 
To rule, to claim the world's Archon a slave. 



320 THE PLEROMA. 

THE CHRIST. 

I need thy service not. 

SATAN. 

And starv'st for lack 
Of food ! Thou art no man, else thou art mad ! 
Tell me, art thou Messiah ? Doubtless ! Thou 'rt gaunt 
Enough to suit the Evangelical ! 
Here lie I at thy feet ; and in me lies 
The World ; if so thou be jahveh. Make proof ! 
Thy reticence bids me to name the tests. 
I give thee three, and do require but one, — 
Perform but one, and me thy vassal claim. 
I challenge thee to turn one of these least 
Silicious stones, before thee strewn, to bread — 
And eat, and dull the gnawing tooth of hunger. 
A sorry Deity, thou, cadaverous — 
When all allow the gods ambrosial diet ! 
Once saw I thee to Egypt borne away, 
By the celestial general escort, — 
And utter'd concession I now recant ; 
To find thee grizzly, rheumatic, unkempt — 
An unhous'd cenobite, me staggers ! 

Answer ! 
One word, one word from God's own Son suffice 
To change these mineral loaves to bread — this do, 
And I dispute not thy Divinity. 

THE CHRIST. 

As man my mission is fulfill'd in Earth. 
Man shall not live by bread alone, but, by 
Each word proceeding from the mouth of God. 



THE MAN. 321 

SATAN 

Feigning thyself a man, thou sayest this, 

Believing that thou art the Son of God. 

O Phantasy, that captivates the soul 

And makest airy nothings actuals. 

Behold, a haggard dines on dreams. A mind 
Diseas'd, the skill'd physician spurns, choosing 
Instead "mediums," and misnam'd " scientists." 
Hateth his friends, and seeks his enemies — 
Scorneth the owl's wise word ; the titmouse heeds. 

I see thee entering on thy work forthwith — 
The purporting Messiah. It is writ 
In Malachi, " The jahveh Whom ye seek 
Comes suddenly to His Temple." Is 't so ? 
Discernest yon Basilike ? I know 
Thou seest it — if in thy mind's eye only ! 
Am I not right ? Thou goest shortly up 
To David's town thy ministry to op'n ? 
A miracle would be beginning fit : 
Ascend before the wondering multitude 
One of the marble towers ; and, while they look, 
Command the Angels, and then hurl thee down. 
Thou 'st naught to fear, and much to gain thereby ; 
Is it not written in thy Daily Bread, 
" He shall His angels charge concerning Thee, 
And they shall bear Thee up lest Thou do dash 
Thy foot against a stone " ? 

THE CHRIST. 

Also " Thou shalt 
Not tempt the Lord thy God." Suffice the promise ! 
I am as Son of Man, content. 



322 THE PLEROMA. 

SATAN. 
Perdu ! " As man content," because thou reck'st 
Thyself the Son of God ! So might all men 
Sweet solace take in such absurdity ! 
But grant Thou art the " Seed " — the One destin'd 
To crush the Tempter's head. Is it not writ, 
That he shall bruise Thy heel ? Mind, mind, the heel 
Of the jahveh Satan shall bruise ! Reflect ! 
If the Omnipotent do suffer harm 
In the encounter with this world's Archon, 
A less than He shall utterly be crush'd. 

Hear me ! With clear resolve I sought this place 
To find Thy rocky bed and make this grant : 
A voice from heav'n hath call'd Thee, " Son of God " — 
Heard it Thyself — the Baptizer, and I — 
And forty days that word have I revolv'd 
To reach this proposal. If Thou 'rt the Christ, 
Then am I, Lucifer, Thine enemy, 
Holding by fief original this Star 
A hundred generations unchalleng'd. 
But Thy Advent have I foreknown, nor slept 
By day or night inventing schemes and plots 
To thwart Thy birth, and Kingdom in the earth. 
Well knowing, when the fulness came, my rule 
Was nigh its end. Thou art confess'd the man — 
The Goal of the Creation — Type of types ! 
Hast properties and potencies Divine : 
If so, 't is rash in me Thee to resist. 
I am no fool, in comnion parlance said- — 
If Thou 'rt the Christ, this diadem is Thine. 
This sceptre to Thy hand belongs. Hail Prince 
Of Earth ! Lord of this Star of stars ! 



THE MAN. 323 

Thou noddest ; 
The metaphysic factors fire Thy fancy ! 
Mount up ! The kindling torch illume ! Mount up ! 
And view the kingdoms of the Earth, fair Earth ! 
Bright centre of the Universe. Hail ! Hail ! 
Thy Archon groans to give thee up — but Might 
Makes right in the Almighty's realm, — and I 
Obey because I must. Yet Must says not 
To-day, though bounds are set unto my sway. 
Forestalling the event, I seize the hour, 
And yield thee up unto the Son of Man. 
Glow, panorama, glow ! Behold it pass 
Before His gaze ! O rapture ! Holy man ! 
The pleroma doth open now Thine orbs ! 
Thine is the rule of this Star beautiful ! 
For this end earnest Thou from Heaven ! 
Thou lov'st this Star : — I know it by the flush 
Upon Thy cheek ; the sighing of Thy breast. 
O deep of deeps ! O Mystery most vast ! 
Thou art the Christ — this crown of sapphire — all 
Is Thine, by one and trivial act conditioned. 
Thou must in Thine unstained soul allow 
The truth of what I say ; — concede my right 
As archon of the Earth. This fief I yield 
As mine to give allow'd — and Thine to take ; — 
Else seiz'd perforce. I offer it Thee here 
Without a struggle more 'tween us, if Thou 'rt 
The Christ ! Nay, to Thy probity I leave 
The cause. If Thou receiv'st this diadem, 
And this puissant sceptre from mine hand, 
Kneeling meantime Thou dost receive it from 
Mine hand, to show by outward sign that I 
Transfer my name and titles unto Thee — 



324 THE PLEROMA. 

Then peace proclaim ! Thou art Prince of this Star ! 
Earth's Potentate ! Messiah, Lord of All ! 

THE PLEROMA-CHRIST. 

Get thee behind me, Satan ! For 't is writt'n, 
" Thou shalt do worship to the Lord thy God, 
And him alone shall mortals serve." 

SATAN. 

What ! what ! 
Thee ? Thee? Behind ? Amazement, hear this speech ! 
The Nazarene derides the Prince of Earth ! 
Let imps and satyrs howl in Juda's ears ! 
Rheums, palsies, and obsessions, spread abroad ! 
I quit Thee, but Thou meetest me again ! 
And if Thou 'rt less than God, ruin I '11 pile 
On Thee and Thy frail purposes, as high 
As Sirius, and as baleful too ! 

THE DEMONS. 

How Tophet spawns, and yawns ! 
Hell faints and falls in qualms 

Of black despair. 
Contagion's sallow eye 
Sickens our sorcery : 

Our end 's Despair. 

The Son of God 's a rod, — 
He comes all iron-shod 

To crush our head ; 
Our prince is quite distraught, 
Weigh'd down with gloomy thought. 

Great is our dread. 



THE MAN. 325 

THE ANGELS. 

While the mount was vail'd ; 

While the foe assail'd ; 

While Messiah quail'd, we pray'd, O Saviour. 

Till the field was won ; 

Till the vail was drawn ; 

Till we saw the " Son," we stay'd, O Saviour. 

Now the Aureole 's bright 

With pleroma's light, 

Marveling the sight, we fly, O Saviour : 

Bearing on the wing 

Water from the spring ; 

Whilst the Ethers sing, draw nigh the Saviour. 

Manna from the Tree, 

And Ambrosia, 

Offer we to Thee, and bless the Saviour ! 

Hailing, " Son of God ! " 

Hailing, " Sovran Lord ! " 

Hailing, " Heav'nly Word," address the Saviour ! 

THE EVANGEL. 

The next day John, beholding Jesus, saith, 
" Behold the Lamb of God ! Lo, this is He, 
Of Whom I said, ' There cometh after me 
A Man which is preferred before me. 
And of His Fulness have we all receiv'd, 
And grace for grace.' " 

Now afterward when John 
Was prison'd, came Jesus into Galilee, 
Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, saying, 
" Now is fulfill'd the Day of the pleroma ! 
God's Kingdom is at hand ! " 



326 THE PLEROMA. 

Cana. 

Least of the daughters of Galilee, 
Sing us the song of the Mystery ! — 
Blush of the water at Jesus' word — 
Fame of the wine the bridegroom pour'd. 
Sing it again in the ages far — 
Fair in the light of the Morning Star ; 
Telling the marvel — pleroma's dower — 
Blessing the Virgin before the Hour. 

THE EVANGEL. 

And the Jewish Passover was at hand, 
And Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

THE COURIERS. 

With shine and sheen, jahveh prevene ! 
Presage the hour, pleroma's Flower 

Shall cleanse the Holy Temple. 
Hail, Heavenly Light growing more bright ! 
Nearing the Throne ; worship alone, 

Worship EMMANUEL ! 

Hail, name of names ! We are Thy flames ; 
Hail, sire of sires ! We are Thy fires ; 

That sign pleroma's hour. 
O soul of fervors ! The Couriers — 
O well of tears ! The silent seers — 

Discern Messiah's Power. 

Welcome, welcome, unto Zion, 
Majestic man ! — the Second Adam ! 
Lift up your heads, ye gates ! 



THE MAN. 327 

The Limits cry, " Lo, Christ draws nigh ! " 
The Bands entwine the MAN-Divine, 
And Earth her lord awaits. 



THE LIMITS. 

The man draweth nigh ! 
We are sighing for Him ; 
We are crying for Him ; 

Restore us unto Eden T 
The man passeth by ! 
We are kneeling to Him, 
And appealing to Him, 

Restore us unto Eden ! 

THE BANDS. 

Gravities are trending, 
Opposites are blending, 
Harmonies are lending 

Concord to our star : 
Dissonance retrieving : 
Suffering relieving : 
Peacefully receiving 

The Limits from afar. 

THE CIRCLES. 

Bless we the pleroma — Circle Divine ! 
Welcome immanuel unto His Shrine ! 
Lo, Thou art come, Infinite One ! 
Bright is Thy way ; enter jahveh ! 
Thou art the Nesama — Image Divine ! 



328 THE PLEROMA. 

Bless we the pleroma — full in the man ! 
Finitely Infinite — Second Adam — 
Goal of Creation ! rise to Thy Station ! 
Into Thy hands pass we our wands ; 
Thou art the Nesa7na — Image Divine ! 

Earth hath its Eden, and Sabbath again ; 
Rhythms in Nature are Rhythms in man — 
Sin and its sorrow surcease shall borrow ; 
Guilt and its woe, Jesus shall know, 
Finding the Nesama — Image Divine. 

GAIA. 

In visions I saw Thee, O wonderful Light ! 

Flash forth in the midst of the Temple of God ! 

When a craze of amaze 
Enseiz'd man and brute ; the merchandise straw'd — 
While, hustling and rustling, 
With shout and with rout, fled jahveh's dread Sight ! 

O answer, Great Guest, inspiring my lay ; 
Com'st hither to bide ? or soon to pass by ? 

By the Grace in Thy face, 
By the Light of Thy brow, I read Thy reply : 
" Peace, peace, Gaia, peace ! 
The King shall remain while it is call'd day." 

Thou art tearful, O King ! Ah, I weep to perceive ; 
Feel the weight on Thy breast ; till I sigh in my 
sleep ; 
While Creation groans, and moans : 



THE MAN. 329 

And the Earth joys to-day, but to-morrow doth 
weep ! 
Alas, Adonai pleroma ! 
I shall die if Thou die, I shall live if Thou live. 



THE ANGELS. 

He hath suddenly come to His Temple ; 

His Hour and His Mission 's begun ; 
In the plenary Graces of Manhood, 

He shines like the orient sun. 



Humanity, here is thy summit ! 

Lo, here is the crown of mankind ! 
In this beautiful circle of Virtues, 

Are seven perfections divin'd. 



They seal Him the Son of the Highest ! 

They sign Him the meekest of men ! 
They lend Him unspeakable beauty, 

That thrilleth and thrilleth again. 

They praise Him the goal of creation ! 

The end of the timeless Process ; 
The mystery hid from the Ages — 

The saviour a World shall confess. 



His faith and His rev'rence perfect, 

Toward God ; His obedience too : 
His love for mankind most unselfish ; 
His wisdom, the Heavens shine through. 



330 THE PLEROMA. 

His hope, never dimm'd in the darkness ; 

His victory, full o'er Satan : 
In Sinless, incomp'rable manhood, 

Behold him — the perfect adam ! 



Gentle as a child — mighty as a God ; 
Peaceful as a fountain — wrathful as a, flood ; 
Simple though his accents — deep as is the Sea ; 
Loved by little children — dreaded mystery ! 
Needy as a servant — Richest Born of Beings ; 
Praying to the father — Almoner of kings ; 
Walking on the earth — dwelling in the Sky ; 
Speaking in the fields — answered from On High ; 
Guide of all to Life — leading unto Death ; 
Promiser of Heaven — in His dying breath ; 
Friend of Sinners he — suffering their guilt ; 
Most Divinely man when His blood is spilt ; 
Dying unto Life — Victor in defeat ; 
Raised from the Grave to a Heavenly Seat. 
Hail we ! Hail we, Jesus ! Mystery Divine ! 
Thine the Kingdom ever ! and the glory Thine ! 



EPILOGUE. 

If ye ask the Muse I sing, I reply, — pleroma. 

Life of numbers, Soul of songs ; 

Praise of praises Him belongs — Infinite pleroma ! 

In Whose blood our souls are shriv'n ; 

Earth is ransom'd, man forgiven ; in the Christ-PLEROMA. 

" Jesus " is His monograph — 

" Saviour " is His epitaph — crucified pleroma. 

Thither, Thither follow we, 

Into Thy Eternity, glorified pleroma ! 

Flower of flowers, full in bloom, 

Love subsists in Thy perfume evermore, pleroma ! 



GLOSSARY. 



GLOSSARY OF UNUSUAL WORDS AND USES. 



Abana — One of the two rivers of Damascus. 

Abaris — Highlands to the east of the Jordan. 

Abiram — One of the conspirators against Moses and Aaron. 

Accad — Akkad — a primitive Hamite race in Shinar — founders of arts 

and letters. 
Acheron — One of the five rivers of the infernal regions. 
Achilles — The name of a large moth. 
Achor — The spot at which Achan was stoned. 
Acrogens — Point-growers — abundant in Coal Age. 
Actinidce — From resemblance, called animal -flowers. 
Adonai — The LORD. 
Adoni — Phoenician for the Most High. 
Adulate — Containing excessive praise. 
il A£ons " — Daughters of Time. 
ALslivate — In process of flowering. 
Afrile — An evil genius in Mohammedan mythology. 
Agnis — " Fire " — a vedic god worshipped by the Aryans. 
Ahab — Son of Omri, seventh king of Israel. 

Ahijah — A prophet of Shiloh in days of Solomon and Jeroboam. 
Aleim — (Elohim) — The generic term for the gem-Eden Deity — 

" Mights." 
A Igce — Sea-weeds. 

Altruism — Devotion to the interests of others. 
Amelek — Son of Eliphaz, grandson of Esau. 
Amene7nha — An Egyptian king who lived before the invasion of the 

Hyksos — builder of pyramids and canals. 
Amittai — The father of the prophet Jonah. 

Amcebina — An animalcule capable of undergoing many changes. 
Amnion — " The Hidden" — an Egyptian deity. 

335 



336 GLOSSARY. 

Amorites — Mountaineers — descendants of Canaan. 

Amoz — The father of the prophet Isaiah. 

Amphibian — Living in both water and on land. 

Amram — The father of Moses. 

Ana — The Chaldean god of heaven. 

AnaHm — A race of giants — notably of Hebron. 

Anarch — A prince or ruler. 

Anemone, Sea — A polyp resembling the flower of the same name. 

" Animce" — The personification of the living principle in animal 

forms. 
Anubis — An Egyptian deity with head of a dog or fox. 
Apamea — A fording-place situated on the Euphrates. 
Apappas — An Egyptian monarch who united both Egypts. 
Aphelion — The farthest point in the orbit of a planet from the sun. 
Apotheosis — Placed among the gods. 

Apperception — Perception that reflects upon the perceiver. 
Arachnida — Including the class of spiders and scorpions. 
Archcean — Ancient, primitive. 

Archetypes — The Divine patterns and models of Creation. 
Archon — Ruler. 

Argillaceous — Partaking of clay. 

Argob — In Bashan — taken by Jair, a chief of the tribe of Manasseh. 
Ariana — An ancient name of Khorassan in Persia. 
Arnon — "The noisy" — the boundary between Moab and the 

Amorites. 
Arphaxad — The son of Shem and ancestor of Heber. 
Aryan — The Indo-European family of languages. 
As her — The eighth son of Jacob. 

Asshur — A powerful country on the Tigris ; Nineveh the capital. 
Aquarius — The " water-bearer " — a sign in the Zodiac. 
Astarte — The principal female divinity of the Phoenicians. 
Asteroids — Small planets lying between Mars and Jupiter. 
Asterolepis — A large fossil fish found in old red-sandstone. 
Atka — A mountain to the west of the Red Sea. 
Atlantean — Used of any giant prop or support. 
Aureole — A circle of light ; in art, the nimbus around a head. 
Baalim — The generic name of the Phoenician deity. 
Baasha — The third sovereign of the kingdom of Israel. 
Babylon — The capital city in Shinar of the Chaldeans. 



GLOSSARY. 337 

Bactrian — A country lying south of the river Oxus. 

"Bands " — The positive and co-ordinating forces : gravity, cohesion, 

etc. 
Bath Kol — The Voice from Heaven. 

Batrachian — Pertaining to the order of frogs and lizards. 
Bel — A . Babylonish deity. 
" Ben-oni " — Son of my sorrow. 
Bethel — A well known city in Central Palestine. 
" Binders " — vide " Bands." 

Boaz — A wealthy Bethlehemite, husband of Ruth. 
Bochim — A place west of the Jordan above Gilgal. 
Bogey — A bugbear — a spectre. 

Borsippa — The Ziggurat identified as the Tower of Confusion. 
Breccias — Fragments of rocks. 
Cadeni — "Falling" (Astrology.) 
Catamite — A fossil plant of the rush family. 
Calcareous — Partaking of the nature of limestone. 
Calcinate — Reduced to powder by heat. 
Cambrian — The lowest subdivision of the Silurian Age. 
Campanularia — Bell-shaped. 

Canaan — Fourth son of Ham. The country west of the Jordan, 
Carnivorous — Feeding on flesh. 
Carpellale — Containing fruit. 
Catania — The resinous poplar. 

Caucasus — Extending from the Black Sea to the Caspian. 
Cauline — Growing from the flower-stem. 
Cauls — Nets, or coverings for the head. 
Cenobite — A hermit. 

Cephalaspis — A fossil fish with head encased in a buckler. 
Cephalopod — A mollusk with branching arms. 
CetacecE — Whales . 
Chasdim — The Chaldeans. 
Chasseurs — Huntsmen of the deep. 
Cherubim — Angels of knowledge. 

Chinnerolh — Afterwards known as the Plain of Gennesaret. 
Chiton — A mollusk with many-pointed shell. 
Chiun — A Phoenician god. 
Chufu — An Egyptian king of the IV. dynasty. 
Cimmerian — Without light — intensely dark. 



338 GLOSSARY. 

Circinate — Rolled together with the tip in the centre. 

" Circles " — The personification of the rotary forces in nature. 

Clio — A wing-footed Pteropod. 

Clysms — Deluges. 

Coccoliths — " Stone-berries " — calcareous shells. 

Concentric — Circles having a common centre. 

Congeries — A heap — a combination. 

Conifers — Plants bearing cones — pines — hemlocks. 

Consubstantial — Having the same substance or essence. 

Copse — A wood of small growth. 

Cosmic — Pertaining to the world. 

Coup — A stroke. 

" Couriers" — The volant forces, — like heat, light, and electricity. 

Cowrie — A small shell used for money in Africa. 

Creatures, Living — Same as Cherubim. 

Crustacea: — Articulates with crust-like shells. 

Cryptogamia — Plants fertilized by hidden processes. 

Cycads — Intermediate between palms and ferns. 

Cycloids — A form of circles. 

Cymric — Pertaining to the Cymri of Europe. 

Cyrenhis — Governor of Syria and Palestine after Archelaus. 

Daphnia — A small crustacean. 

Deborah — A prophetess who judged Israel. 

Deciduous — Having leaves that fall in autumn. 

Demons — The evil spirits subjected by Satan. 

Dicotyls — Having seeds with two lobes. 

Dinothere — A mammoth of the Middle Tertiary. 

Dinychlhys — A huge Devonian fossil fish. 

Diorite — A crystalline rock consisting of hornblende and feldspar. 

Doris — A wife of Herod the Great. 

Dothan — A rich pasturage near the Plain of Esdroelon. 

Doxa — The Glory investing the Godhead — the Essence of the Ethers. 

Dunes — The movable sand-hills along sea-coasts. 

Ea — A Chaldean god ; its symbol was a fish. 

Ebal — A mount in Palestine to the north of Shechem. 

Echidna — A genus of ant-eaters found in New Holland. 

Edrei — One of two capital cities in Bashan. 

Effigies — The likenesses of Deity in nature. 

Effreet — An evil spirit. 



GLOSSARY. 339 

Elam — Son of Shem ; also an appellation of a country. 

Electron — The archon of the Sun. 

Eliun — Phoenician, for the most high. 

Elilim — " Emptiness." 

El Shaddai — The Almighty. 

Emmanuel — Immanuel — " God with us." 

Empyrean — The highest heaven. 

Enaliosaurs — A swimming saurian of gigantic size, now extinct. 

Endogens — Plants growing from within — having no pith. 

Enthymemic — In the Divine Mind by potence and promise. 

Eozoic — The Age of the dawn of life. 

Epiphany — An appearance. 

Erech — One of the cities of Nimrod's kingdom in Shinar. 

Etham — The " boundary of the sea." 

Ethers — The supersensible powers presiding over the cosmos. 

Equitani — With leaves overlapping each other alternately. 

Eucalypti — A genus of trees in Australia. 

Fauna — The animals of any given area or epoch. 

Eetishisms — Worship of clods and stones as shrines of divinities. 

" Flame " — One of the countenances or emblems of Eden worship. 

Flora — The vegetable species collectively in an area or age. 

Flustra — A compound plant-like animal called Sea-mat. 

Foraminifer — A minute Protozoan with a perforated shell. 

For/ending — To hinder, to avert. 

Fubsey — Plump — chubby. 

Fwigoids — Spongy, like mushrooms. 

Furies — Female deities of vengeance. 

" Gaia " — The poetical personification of the earth. 

Gall-fly — Puncturing plants and making galls for its eggs. 

Gan-Eden — The garden of Paradise. 

Ganoids — Ancient fossil fish with bright scales. 

Gasterpods — Mollusks using their stomach-discs as feet. 

Geognosy — The science of the structure of the earth. 

Geshur — The northeastern portion of Bashan. 

Gerizim — The commanding summit of Samaria. 

Ghauts — Mountain passes in the Orient. 

Gideon — One of four cities which made a league with Gideon. 

Gibborim — Men of extraordinary stature. 

Gideon — The fifth judge of Israel. 



340 GLOSS A R V. 

Gilgal — The " Circle," the first camp west of the Jordan. 

Gnomes — Imaginary beings inhabiting the inner parts of the earth. 

Godhead — The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

Graphite — Called plumbago or black lead. 

Graptolite — A plume-shaped delicate fossil. 

Guerdon — Reward — recompense. 

Habitat — The home. 

Hain — A meadow. 

Halcyonites — An eight-rayed polyp. 

Happi-Mu — Egyptian name for the Nile region. 

HarpcE — Harp-shelled mollusks. 

Hauran — On the northeastern border of the Promised Land. 

Havilah — A land rich in treasures encompassed by the river Pison. 

Hazor — The principal city of Northern Palestine. 

Heki — An Egyptian deity. 

Helene — The Greek race. 

Helios — The disc of the sun — worshipped as a god". 

Heliopolis — City of the Sun — priestly centre of Lower Egypt. 

Herbivorous — Animals subsisting on herbs. 

Hindu Kush — An Alpine water-shed in Asia. 

Hippus — Eohippus — The three-toed horse, the fossil antecedent of 
the modern horse. 

Hominidce — With anatomical resemblances to the human species. 

Hormah — A town on the south of Palestine reduced by Joshua. 

Horoscope — An observation made of the heavens at the time of a per- 
son's birth. 

Horus — " The Child," an Egyptian god. 

Hydradce — Fresh-water polyps. 

Hymeneal — Pertaining to marriage — a marriage song. 

Ichihyic — Relating to the order of fishes. 

Ilex — An evergreen tree of Palestine. 

Imago — The last and perfected state of an insect. 

Imbricate — Overlapped at the edges in regular order. 

Implexed — Intwined — interleaved. 

Indra — The Aryan god of the atmosphere. 

Infusoria — Microscopic animals found in water. 

Iran — Or Persia. 

Iridescent— Having colors like the rainbow. 

Iris — The rainbow — the Jleur de luce. 



GLOSSARY. 34I 

Jialiote — Peculiar to ancient Italy. 

Jah — A short form of jahveh (Jehovah), the Covenant God of the 
Hebrews. 

JAHVEH (pronounced Yah-vay) — " The One that will be that He will 
be." 

Javanu — The Greeks — descended from Japheth. 

Jahvites — Worshippers of Jahveh. 

Jeroboam — Son of Nebat — the head of the ten northern tribes. 

Jochebed — The mother of Moses and Aaron. 

Kabiri — The seven deities of the Phoenicians. 

Kadesh-Barnea — Last camp of the Israelites on direct march to 
Canaan. 

Karnak — A collection of temples near Thebes in Upper Egypt. 

Khem — An Egyptian deity. 

Kneph — An Egyptian deity. 

Korah — Leader of the rebellion against his cousins Moses and Aaron. 

Labara — Standards. 

Labyrinthodonts — Having labyrinthine teeth. 

Lagoons — Shallow seas — lakes within coral islands. 

Latirentian — The Azoic rocks of Canada. 

Lecherous — Lustful — lewd. 

Lemming — A burrowing animal of the rat family. 

Lenticle — Spots on leaves from which roots issue. 

Lepidodendra — A fossil tree of the Carboniferous age marked with 
scales. 

Libanus — Mount Lebanon to the north of Palestine. 

Liber — The inner bark lying next the wood. 

" Limits" — The personification of the negative and dispersive forces 
in Nature. 

Lister — An enumerator. 

Lucifer — Archon of the Earth by original grant of the Almighty. 

Lydia — In Asia Minor. 

Maccabean — Pertaining to the reign of the family of Judas Mac- 
cabeus. 

Mage — A magician. 

Magism — Sorcery. 

Mandalas — Vedic poems. 

Manu — Laws of, — A metrical code of the Rig-Veda. 

Mar ah — " Bitter." 



342 GLOSSARY. 

Mar anon — Or Amazon. 

Marduk — Babylonish god of the planet Jupiter. 

Mar tits — Storm gods. 

Maskim — The seven gods of the abyss. 

Medusa — Sea-nettles. 

Mcmnon — A vocal statue of Amenohis III. — emitting sounds at dawn. 

Mentor — Teacher. 

Merodoch — Same as Marduk. 

Merom — A reedy lake near sources of the Jordan. 

Menner — The god of the winds. (Persian.) 

Mephitic — Breathing foul gases. 

Metempsychosis — Transmigration. 

Michael — The prince of the militant angels of God. 

Middins — Kitchen-refuse heaps. 

" Mights " — The literal meaning of Elohim. 

Minnith — From Aroer to Minneth was a district of twenty cities on 

the east of the Jordan. 
Mitra—A Vedic deity—" The Bright One." 
Mncean Snake — The name given a crown prince in Egypt. 
Moeris — Artificial lake, by Amenemha III., for irrigation. 
Molech — The Canaanitish sun-god. 
Morasthite — The prophet Jonah. 

Moreh — The oak of, — the first halting-place of Abram in Palestine. 
Morse — A sea-horse. 

Nacre — The iridescent lining of some shells. 
Nadab — The son of Jeroboam. 
Naiads — Water-nymphs. 
"Names " — The Countenances of the Trinity, as seen by the heavenly 

essences : — or, as Light, Fire, and Ether, in Nature. 
Nautilus — A shell-fish furnished with a membrane for a sail. 
Nazarites — Set apart by vow for the service of God. 
Nebal — The father of Jeroboam. 
Nebo — A mount facing Jericho on the east. Moses took last view 

of the Promised Land from its summit. 
Necromancy — Conjuration, enchantment. 
Nemesis — The personification of retributive justice. 
Nephillim — Giants. 

Nesama — The Divine Blessedness communicated to the first pair. 
Neuropter — An order of insects with four membranous wings. 



GLOSSARY. 343 

Nimroud — The grandson of Ham — a fierce opponent of the altar and 

worship of Jehovah. 
Nindar — The nightly sun in the regions of Mulge. 
Occident — The Western world. 
Octopus — The devil-fish. 
Octuple— Eight-fold. 

Omphalos — The navel of the Earth — the North Pole. 
Ophiuchus — A constellation in which a remarkable star appeared 

about the time of Jesus' birth. 
Oreads — Mountain nymphs. 
Orient — The Eastern world. 
Ormuzd — The Persian god of light. 
Osiris — The Beneficent Power in Nature — the vanquisher of Typhon 

(evil). 
Orthocera — Having a straight, many-chambered, shell. 
Orthopter — An order of insects with even-textured wings. 
Othniel — A younger brother of Caleb. 
Ovary — The lower part of the pistil containing the seed. 
Pachyderm — A thick-skinned, hoofed animal. 
Padan-Aram — Mesopotamia, bordering on the Euphrates. 
Paleothere — A fossil pachyderm allied to the tapir. 
Pamir — The northern extremity of the Himalayan plateau. 
Pan — The god of Nature. 

Pandemonium — The council-chamber of the demons. 
Pantheon — The whole body of divinities worshipped by a people. 
Paramos — Low mountainous districts in South America. 
Parsism — The religion of the Parsees, followers of Zoroaster. 
Pelagic — Pertaining to the deep sea. 

Pelusium — or Avaris — On the frontier wall of Egypt toward Palestine* 
Pentacrinus — A fossil crinoid with five-sided pedicle. 
Permian — The period closing the Carboniferous age. 
Per fervid — Very fervid, — ardent. 
Perfoliate — Surrounding the stem at the base. 
Pethual — The father of the prophet Joel. 
Petiole — The foot-stalk of a leaf. 
Phallic — Pertaining to the orgies of Bacchus. 
Pharpar — One of the two rivers of Damascus. 
Phocas — Name of a small mollusk. 
Phoebus — The sun. 



344 GLOSSARY. 

Pholad — A genus of mollusks boring rocks and clay. 

Photosphere — The luminous envelope of the sun. 

Phyllaries — Bracts forming an involucre. 

Phylloiaxy — The science of leaf-arrangement on the stems of plants. 

Pihahiroih — The third encampment of Israel in Egypt. 

Pintadine — The mother-pearl. 

Piihoni — A store-city in eastern Lower Egypt. 

Placental — Animals having a placenta. 

Placoderm — A bony-plated fish of the Devonian age. 

Placoid — A fish with enameled plates for scales. 

Pleiads — A group of seven stars in the constellation Taurus. 

Pleiosaur — A fossil-swimming saurian. 

Pleroma — The Plenitude of the Godhead: "fulness" — John i., 

16 ; Col. ii., 9 ; Eph. i., 23. — The Creative Mind in Nature ; — 

The Second Person of the Trinity. 
Plerome — The potence, or fulness, of a seed, or bud, or egg. 
Plethoric — Overfull — overloaded. 

Plumule — The growing point of young plants and buds. 
Plutonian — Relating to unstratified, crystalline rocks. 
Pollenius — Personification of the anthers of flowers. 
Polypides — Houses, or hives, of coral polyps. 
Polyzoa — Lowest order of mollusks ; many animals united. 
Pretiominate — To forename. 
Presto — Suddenly. 

Primordial — Pertaining to the lowest geological period. 
Prognostic — A prediction, — a foretelling. 
Proleptic — Seen before, by anticipation. 
Proplasmic — The earliest moulds of living organisms. 
Proteacea: — Flowering shrubs, natives of Australia and South Africa. 
Protozoan — A rhizopod — a sponge, etc. 

' ' Psyches " — The personification of the mental principle in man. 
Psychic — Relating to the living principle in man. 
Plah — Chief god of Memphis — the divine architect. 
Pteropod — A wing-footed mollusk. 
Puissant — Mighty, powerful, 
Purlieus — The outer portions, the environs. 
Ptirpurce — Mollusks with a violet-colored fluid. 
Pyrosoma — A mollusk emitting brilliant phosphorescent light. 
Quadrifurcate — Four-branching. 



GLOSSARY. 345 

Quaternary — A modern geological epoch. 

Quintuple — In fives. 

Ra — The sun, represented by Egyptians as a hawk-headed man. 

Ragnarok — The darkness of the gods — a day of doom. 

Rama — One of the cities of Benjamin. 

Rehoboam — The son and successor of Solomon. 

Rehobolh — Genesis xxvi., 22. 

Rhizopods — Protozoa with fibre-like processes through pores in the 

shell. 
Rig- Veda — The books of sacred hymns among the Hindus. 
Rimmon — A deity worshipped by the Syrians of Damascus. 
Rorqual — A species of whale. 
Rosh — A poisonous plant. 

Roleria — Crustaceans moving by means of cilia about the head. 
Ruminants — Animals that chew the cud. 
Sacrosanct — Sacred, inviolable. 

Sargon — The Assyrian monarch that deported Samaria, 722 B.C. 
Sauroids — Resembling lizards. 
Savannas — Grassy plains destitute of trees. 
Seba — Probably in the Upper Nile. 
Secular — Pertaining to an age, or a long period. 
Semitic — Pertaining to the descendants of Shem. 
Septenate — In octaves of seven, the rhythm of natural forces. 
Seraphim — Angels of knowledge. 
Sesostris — King Rameses of the Exodus. 
Sessile — Issuing directly from the stalk, 
Shavek — Gen. xiv. 

Shang Ti — A Divine name among Chinese. 
Shemiie — A descendant of Shem, 
Shich plant — Used in incantation. 

Shamgar — Son of Anath, judge of Israel before Barak. 
Shumir — Lower Chaldea. 
Siddim — Same as Sodom. 

Sigillards — Large fossil trees marked in regular notches. 
Signatures — Marks by which the mystic virtues of things are divined. 
Silurian — The earliest Paleozoic age. 
Similitudes — Correspondences between the natural and supernatural 

worlds. 
Sin — The southeastern part of the Peninsula of Sinai. 



346 GLOSSARY. 

Sinuous — Winding. 

Sippara — A Chaldean city on the Euphrates. 
Skittle balls — Discs for throwing at ninepins. 
Somme — A valley in France rich in fossil remains. 
Sprunl — Spread like a male turkey. 
Stipule — An appendage at the base of leaves. 
Succoth — Jacob built booths (succoth) here and tarried. 
Syenite — A crystalline rock composed of quartz, hornblende, and feld- 
spar. 
Sybarite — A person devoted to luxury and pleasure. 
Synoptical — Affording a general view of the whole. 
Tabid — Emaciated, wasted away. 

Talisman — A magical figure to which wonderful effects are ascribed, 
Tartessan — A mountain district in ancient Spain. 
Tekoan — A town in the tribe of Judah near Hebron. 
Tentacle — An organ of feeling and motion among polyps. 
Tephillim — Frontlets ; phylacteries. 

Teredo — A boring mollusk ; used figuratively for a coal-miner. 
Tessarene — Coined from tessara — four ; to denote a group of four. 
Tests — Shells. 

Theanthropic — Partaking both of divinity and humanity. 
Tholoformic — Roof-shaped. 

Thoth — A moon-god ; head of an Ibis — (Egyptian). 
Tillodon — (Marsh) — Has head of a bear and incisors of a rodent. 
Torus — The receptacle on which the carpels of flowers stand. 
Tragacanth — A resinous plant. 

Trigon — A trine of planets, making a figure of three sides. 
Trilobite — A fossil crustacean. 
Troll — A supernatural being inhabiting caves. 
Tubularia — Having horny tubes. 
Tunicata — Mollusks wearing a tunic, or envelope. 
Ttiran — Ancient home of the Turanians in Central Asia. 
Typhon — The Egyptian god of evil (Set). 
Ungulate — A hoofed quadruped. 

Urania— The heavens ;— The Mother of the Sun or Electron, 
Uri — The father of Bezaleel, architect of the Tabernacle. 
Uru — A great city near the mouth of the Euphrates. 
Uz — The grandson of Shem ; the country also of Job. 
Uzziah — A son of Amaziah, king of Judah. 



GLOSSARY. 34/ 

Varuna — The all-enveloping heaven — a Vedic deity. 
Vascular — Consisting of vessels — as lichens, sea-weeds. 
Valvate — Having a valve or valves. 

" Vegetce " — Personification of the vegetable principle in Nature. 
Vedic — Belonging to the Vedas. 
Volzias — Abundant in the Triassic age. 
Wassail — A festive liquor. 
Wombat —A. marsupial of the opossum family. 
Xylan — Woody fibre. 

Zaphnath paaneah — " Preserver of the age " — name given to Joseph 
Zarathustra — A form of spelling Zoroaster. 
Zalmanna — One of two kings of Midian captured by Gideon. 
Zeba — One of two kings of Midian who fell by the hand of Gideon, 
Zephalh — A Canaanitish town afterwards called Hormah. 
Zeus — The supreme god of the sky, among Greeks and Romans. 
Zidon — or Sidon — An ancient and wealthy city of Phoenicia. 
Zimri — A Simeonite chieftain slain by Phineas. 
Zoophytes — Polyps branching like plants and resembling flowers, 






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